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Alarming new study of 2.8 million adults says obesity will cut years off your life

New research suggests that being severely obese increases your risk to several life-threatening illnesses. Read More...

America faces a big health crisis.

Adults with severe obesity are 12 times as likely to develop Type 2 diabetes, and are at 22 times greater risk of sleep apnoea than their normal weight peers, according to new estimates presented last weekend at the 2019 European Congress on Obesity in Glasgow, Scotland.

BMI calculates weight, muscle, fat and bone in relation to height and gender. A BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight and those with a BMI of 30 or more are considered obese; severely obese is a BMI of 40 to 45, and morbidly obese people have a BMI of 44.9 or more.

People with a BMI of 30 to 35 are at 70% higher risk of developing heart failure and a history of any cardiovascular event doubled the risk of unstable angina/heart attack, stroke, and heart failure.

Those individuals with a BMI of 30 to 35 are at 70% higher risk of developing heart failure, the researchers found. What’s more, a history of any cardiovascular event doubled the risk of unstable angina/heart attack, stroke, and heart failure.

The study analyzed BMI, health, and mortality data on over 2.8 million adults with an average age of 51 years between January 2000 and July 2018 in a British database that’s representative of the overall population demographic with regard to age, sex, and geographic distribution.

“With the number of people living with obesity almost tripling worldwide over the past 30 years — to 650 million in 2016 — our findings have serious implications for public health,” author Christiane Haase, a Danish scientist with the drug company Novo Nordisk NVO, +1.04% said.

U.S. studies have also linked obesity to life-threatening diseases

Other studies have found similar results. Being overweight or obese is associated with a higher risk of dying prematurely than being a healthier weight — and the risk increases with additional pounds, according to a 2016 international study.

Those researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the University of Cambridge in the U.K. joined forces in 2013 to establish the Global BMI Mortality Collaboration, which included more than 500 investigators from over 300 global institutions.

A five-unit increase in the body mass index was equivalent to a 49% higher risk for cardiovascular mortality, 38% for respiratory disease mortality and 19% for cancer mortality.

Looking at specific causes of death, the study found that, for each five-unit increase in BMI (from, say, 30 to 35) — body mass index is measured by a formula that divides your body weight your height — there was corresponding increases in risk of life-threatening illnesses.

That five-unit increase in BMI was equivalent to a 49% higher risk for cardiovascular mortality, 38% for respiratory disease mortality and 19% for cancer mortality. That means these people are 49%, 38% and 19% more likely to die earlier than a person who has a healthy body weight.

The hazards of excess body weight were greater in younger than in older people and in men than in women, the researchers found. They crunched data from more than 10.6 million participants in 32 countries from 239 studies, conducted between 1970 and 2015.

Bad news for the ‘dad bod’ and weight gain in adulthood

Adult obesity in the U.S. exceeds 30% of the population in 20 U.S. states and surpassed 35% in at least three states — Arkansas, West Virginia and Mississippi. Also, 22 states have rates above 30%, 45 states are above 25%, and every state is above 20%.

There’s also bad news for the “dad bod.” Weight gain in early and middle adulthood will increase health risks later in life, according to a 2017 study, which was also led by researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

People who gained a moderate amount of weight (5 to 22 pounds) before the age of 55 increased their risk of premature death, chronic diseases and decreased the likelihood of achieving healthy aging.

People who gained a moderate amount of weight (5 to 22 pounds) before the age of 55 increased their risk of premature death, chronic diseases and decreased the likelihood of achieving healthy aging, the study found. And the higher the weight gain, the greater risk of chronic diseases.

The findings indicate that even a modest amount of weight gain may have important health consequences, said senior author Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology and chair of the Department of Nutrition. That study analyzed data from nearly 93,000 participants.

Women gained an average of 22 pounds in early and middle adulthood, while men gained 19 pounds. Early and middle adulthood is the time of life most people actually gain weight, as their metabolism slows, recurring knee and back injuries become more common, studies show.

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