Being obese can shorten life by up to 10 years

Being obese can take years off your life and in some cases may be as dangerous as smoking, a new study found.

In the largest-ever investigation of how obesity affects mortality, British researchers at the University of Oxford analysed 57 studies following 894,576 participants, mostly in Europe and North America, for an average of 10 years to 15 years.

During that time, about 100,000 of those people died. As well as looking at overall death rates, the researchers linked Body Mass Index (BMI) scores with common causes of death through ill health.

BMI is a measurement that divides a person’s weight in kilograms by his or her height squared in metres.

The researchers found that death rates were lowest in people who had a BMI of 23 to 24, on the high side of the normal range.

But those who were extremely overweight could lose 10 years of their life, they said.

The risk from carrying extra flab has been debated for years among scientists.

While no one disputes the fact that the obese are more likely to develop diabetes, heart disease and cancer, the danger from a few kilograms that gradually creep on with age has been less clear.

The best solution was to stay trim, the researchers concluded.

The study was published online yesterday in the medical journal, The Lancet. It was paid for by Britain’s Medical Research Council, the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK and others.

Experts generally welcomed the study, although some cautioned that because the papers used in it mostly started between 1975 and 1985, the conclusions of those researchers were not as relevant today.

For more information, please visit

http://www.thestar.com/article/604681