Link Between Obesity and Life Expectancy
Obesity Study Summary
A recent obesity study by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
and the University of Alabama at Birmingham found that obesity adversely
affects life expectancy for an adult beginning at the age of 20.
Obesity Study Methods
Researchers, using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination
Survey and the U.S. Life Tables, calculated the difference between life
expectancies of individuals who were obese versus not obese at a given
age. Obesity is determined by calculating body mass index. A body mass
index between 25 and 29 is considered overweight; an index of 30 or more
is considered obese.
Obesity Study Results
Results estimate that a 20-year-old white male with a body mass index
of 45 or more will lose 13 years of life due to obesity. For African-American
men of the same age and weight classification, the estimated loss of life
is an astounding 20 years. For women, the news is slightly better. A 20-year-old
white woman with a body mass index of 45 or more is estimated to lose
eight years of life, while an African-American woman is estimated to lose
five years.
Obesity Study Conclusion
Physicians trying to motivate obese patients to fight fat and excess body
weight can now quantitatively illustrate the adverse effects of being
overweight in a way patients can understand instead of warning them vaguely
about potential health risks.
Source: soundmedicine.iu.edu 2003
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