Overweight and especially obesity in middle age has extremely negative health consequences, according to a new long-term study. Not only do those affected die earlier, they are also ill for twice as many years of their lives compared to people of normal weight.
Researchers at Northwestern University Chicago observed nearly 30,000 women and men over a 50-year period. When comparing body mass index (BMI) and age at death, they discovered that being overweight is associated with a shorter life expectancy. And not only that: Overweight people are also ill for much longer in their lives. Even if the study has some weaknesses, it shows how important it is for one’s own quality of life to pay attention to a healthy weight.
Being overweight shortens life by five years
In their investigation, the researchers focused primarily on the health insurance data of people aged 65 and over. In 2015, more than 13,000 of the almost 30,000 participants had died. Upon further analysis, the scientists found that those who were a healthy weight lived to an average age of 82.3. Severely overweight people with a BMI of 40 and above lived to an average age of 77.7 years. That makes a difference in life expectancy of a full five years! But even moderate obesity still shortened life by two years, according to a study published in the journal Jama Network. 2 However, if it was just “a few extra pounds on the ribs”, it had no impact on life expectancy.
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Being overweight puts a strain on vital organs
The study authors suspect that the earlier death has to do with various health side effects. Being overweight causes inflammation in the body, puts a strain on the organs and the cardiovascular system and promotes fat deposits in the arteries. This in turn leads to diseases such as type 2 diabetes and increases the risk of heart attacks. There are numerous diseases that are directly associated with obesity, so that on average a lower life expectancy can be expected compared to people of normal weight. In addition, it has already been proven that overweight people die more often as a result of a Covid-19 infection (FITBOOK reported).
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How obesity doubles the number of sick years
Another decisive factor for the quality of life is how many years of it you can enjoy as a healthy person. Here, too, the researchers found striking differences. While people of a healthy weight spend an average of six years of their lives being ill, those who are severely overweight spend a little over ten years in poor health. With slightly less pronounced obesity, the researchers determined 9.8 sick years. That’s valuable lifetime filled with diagnoses, doctor visits, medication, or hospitalizations that in many cases probably could have been avoided.
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weaknesses of the study
Finally, the authors of the study acknowledge some weaknesses. One of them is that it hasn’t broken down what exactly people died from. In addition, the sample size of the severely overweight group was rather small with a total of only 125 people and was therefore only representative to a limited extent. On top of that, a high BMI does not necessarily mean that you are overweight, which applies to particularly muscular people, for example. In fact, experts repeatedly emphasize that the BMI alone does not say much about the state of health (FITBOOK reported).