According to the results of a new analysis of data covering some 20 studies and conducted by researchers at the American National Cancer Institute, it appears that people who suffer from a severe form of obesity (called morbid obesity ) have a dramatic reduction in their life expectancy compared to people of normal weight. A study that researchers do not want to take lightly because, in the United States, 6% of people are now classified as “extremely obese”. So at potential risk of premature death.
Increased risk for a BMI ranging from 40 to 59
The researchers found that the risk of dying prematurely continued to increase as the body mass index also increased. Statistical analyzes of the pooled data indicated that the number of premature deaths was mainly due to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, or kidney or liver disease. Years of life lost ranged from 6.5 years for people with a BMI of 40 to 44.9 to 13.7 years for a BMI of 55 to 59.9.
To put these figures into a healthy context, the researchers found that the number of years of life lost is equal to or greater than that of cigarette smokers at normal weight.
Obesity doesn’t just affect the United States. A third of the world’s population is now overweight or obese, or 671 million obese. The European Court of Justice could also soon force employers to consider obesity as a handicap.
