Obesity and Lifespan
Of all conditions, obesity has the greatest effect on lifespan because it is the triggering event for a host of chronic diseases.
A study by the National Cancer Institute, which is part of the United States National Institutes of Health, found that people who are extremely obese had a major reduction in life expectancy, mostly because of the incidences of diabetes, cancer, heart, liver and kidney diseases stemming from the condition.
In the United States, about 6 percent of adults are more than 100 pounds higher than the recommended range for normal weight. That calculation is based on the body mass index, which measures total body fat and is calculated by dividing a person’s weight by their height. Those with a body mass of 40 or higher are considered extremely obese.
Researchers from the National Cancer Institute found that the risks of dying and developing more major health problems rose continuously as body mass increased. Years of life lost was determined at 6.5 years for those with a BMI of 40 to 44.9 to 13.7 years for those with a BMI of 55-59. It means that level of being overweight was the equivalent of being a smoker in terms of impact on the body and mortality. The bad news is that extreme obesity is increasing in the United States and elsewhere in the world, creating a health crisis that soon may develop into the major cause of death in the United States and other countries.
Ultimately, staying healthy is a matter of following basic protocols in maintaining a healthy weight, exercising and regularly checking health. After that, good genes, luck, finances and emotional state will play major roles in determining whether major diseases will significantly shorten the lifespan.