Get Fat, Die Sooner
Get Fat, Die Sooner
Jan. 7, 2003 -- If you're overweight, the grim reaper is a few steps closer to your door. How much closer? Now the awful truth comes in down-to-earth numbers.
Two independent studies reckon the cost of being overweight. They put this cost not in dollars but in years. Years, that is, of life lost.
"Large decreases in life expectancy were associated with overweight and obesity," write Anna Peeters, PhD, and colleagues at the Dutch research group NEDCOM in the Jan. 7 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.
"We found that obesity has a profound effect on life span," write Johns Hopkins researcher Kevin R. Fontaine, PhD, and colleagues in the Jan 8 issue of TheJournal of the American Medical Association.
Who is affected? Two in every three U.S. adults are overweight or obese, note Harvard researchers JoAnne E. Manson, MD, DrPH, and Shari S. Bassuk, ScD, in a JAMA editorial. They point out that being overweight causes more health problems than smoking, problem drinking, or poverty.
Are you overweight? Here's how the researchers -- and the National Institutes of Health -- define it. Normal weight means a body-mass index or BMI of 18.5-24.9. Overweight means a BMI of 25-29.9. Obese means a BMI of 30 or more. If you don't know your BMI, click here to use WebMD's BMI calculator.
The Peeters team analyzed data from 3,457 Americans. The findings, compared with normal-weight people who didn't smoke:
One more startling statistic drives home the impact of too much weight. Compared with normal-weight smokers, obese smokers died seven years sooner.
"Obesity in adulthood is a powerful predictor of death at older ages," Peeters and colleagues write. "More efficient prevention and treatment should become high priorities in public health."
Fontaine's team looked at two other large national U.S. data sets. Although they analyzed the data differently than the Peeters team, their findings are very much the same:
Get Fat, Die Sooner
Studies Calculate Years Lost to Weight, Smoking
Jan. 7, 2003 -- If you're overweight, the grim reaper is a few steps closer to your door. How much closer? Now the awful truth comes in down-to-earth numbers.
Two independent studies reckon the cost of being overweight. They put this cost not in dollars but in years. Years, that is, of life lost.
"Large decreases in life expectancy were associated with overweight and obesity," write Anna Peeters, PhD, and colleagues at the Dutch research group NEDCOM in the Jan. 7 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.
"We found that obesity has a profound effect on life span," write Johns Hopkins researcher Kevin R. Fontaine, PhD, and colleagues in the Jan 8 issue of TheJournal of the American Medical Association.
Who is affected? Two in every three U.S. adults are overweight or obese, note Harvard researchers JoAnne E. Manson, MD, DrPH, and Shari S. Bassuk, ScD, in a JAMA editorial. They point out that being overweight causes more health problems than smoking, problem drinking, or poverty.
Are you overweight? Here's how the researchers -- and the National Institutes of Health -- define it. Normal weight means a body-mass index or BMI of 18.5-24.9. Overweight means a BMI of 25-29.9. Obese means a BMI of 30 or more. If you don't know your BMI, click here to use WebMD's BMI calculator.
The Peeters team analyzed data from 3,457 Americans. The findings, compared with normal-weight people who didn't smoke:
- People overweight at age 40 lost three years of life.
- Women obese at age 40 lost seven years of life.
- Men obese at age 40 lost almost six years of life.
- Smokers obese at age 40 lost 13 years if female and almost 14 years if male.
One more startling statistic drives home the impact of too much weight. Compared with normal-weight smokers, obese smokers died seven years sooner.
"Obesity in adulthood is a powerful predictor of death at older ages," Peeters and colleagues write. "More efficient prevention and treatment should become high priorities in public health."
Fontaine's team looked at two other large national U.S. data sets. Although they analyzed the data differently than the Peeters team, their findings are very much the same:
- The BMI range linked to longest life span is 23-25 for whites and 23-30 for blacks.
- The average white man 20 years old with a BMI of more than 45 will lose 13 years.
- The average white woman 20 years old with a BMI of more than 45 will lose eight years.
- A different picture emerges for blacks. Consistent reductions in life span aren't seen until black men reach a BMI of 32-33 and black women reach a BMI of 37-38.
- Young, severely obese blacks lost a maximum of 20 years of life if male and five years of life if female.
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