Simply: More fat means less life

William Atkins
Wednesday, 18 March 2009 18:19

Science - Health

The more you weigh the fewer years you will live, according to a large research study performed in the United Kingdom on nearly 900,000 adults. Specifically, according to this study, if you are severely obese your life expectancy is reduced by 10 years on average—yes, TEN YEARS!


The conclusions of the study were published online on March 18, 2009 in the journal The Lancet (doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60318-4), and will be available in a future issue of the journal.

The title of the article is “Body-mass index and cause-specific mortality in 894,576 adults: collaborative analyses of 57 prospective studies.”

The researchers from Oxford University in the United Kingdom used body-mass index (BMI) to determine the weight of about 900,000 adults within the study called the Prospective Studies Collaboration.

They already knew that obesity causes an increase risk for mortality (death), but this study helps to pinpoint the average number of years that being overweight reduces life expectancy in humans.

Body-mass index (BMI) is the measure of body fat based on height (in kilograms) and weight (in meters) for adult men and women. (BMI equals weight (kilograms) divided by height (meters) squared.)

For additional information on BMI and to find out your specific BMI rating, go to “Calculate your BMI.”

You will input your weight in pounds (which is then converted for you to kilograms) and height in feet and inches (which is converted to meters).

Page two describes the categories for BMI, along with additional information on this important study on obesity and life span.