Obesity and Life.
Having read effects of obesity on health, which span across every system and specialty, it is not difficult to understand why obesity reduces life span. The obesity mortality rates are higher when obesity is accompanied by smoking. The life expectancy drops by almost half when an obese person also smokes. This is because the effects of obesity are compounded with effects of smoking.
A general rule for obesity and life provides that for every pound or half a kilogram (approx) you are overweight, your life reduces by about one month.
Obesity and Mortality.
Given below is chart which compares the drop in life expectancy of overweight and obese in a smoker and non smoker in males and females. Know how being overweight and obese reduces your life span.
Here overweight is considered with a BMI of 25 to 30 while obese is BMI of more than 30 and the comparison is at age of 40 years and with non smoking people of normal weight.
Females |
Males |
|
| Overweight and non smoker | -3.3 years | -3.1 years |
| Obese and non smoker | -7.1 years | -5.8 years |
| Overweight and smoker | -7.2 years | -6.7 years |
| Obese and smoker | -13.3 years | -13.7 years |
Below are some more obesity death rates in morbidly obese people with reference to ethnicity.
- White men aged between 20 years to 30 years with a BMI more than 45 (morbidly obese) could shorten their life by 13 years.
- White women in the same category could shorten their life by 8 years.
- African American men in the same category could lose 20 years of life.
- African American women in the same category could lose up to 5 years of life.
The figures given above are authentic and result of studies. Obesity and life are inversely related and obesity does lower the life span. In other words, obesity and mortality are strongly connected. The more the person is obese, the higher is his mortality.
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