On average, overweight people lose about one year of life expectancy, and moderately obese people lose about three years of life expectancy.
- Emanuele Di Angelantonio
The World Health Organization estimates that 1.3 billion adults worldwide are overweight, and that a further 600 million are obese. The prevalence of adult obesity is 20% in Europe and 31% in North America.
“On average, overweight people lose about one year of life expectancy, and moderately obese people lose about three years of life expectancy,” says Dr Emanuele Di Angelantonio from the University of Cambridge, the lead author. “We also found that men who were obese were at much higher risk of premature death than obese women. This is consistent with previous observations that obese men have greater insulin resistance, liver fat levels, and diabetes risk than women.”
The study found an increased risk of premature death for people who were underweight, as well as for people classed as overweight. The risk increased steadily and steeply as BMI increased. A similar trend was seen in many parts of the world and for all four main causes of death.
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Image: Full-Figured Man
Credit: Tony Alter
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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