I just ran across an interesting article on obesity, smoking, and life expectancy in the Annals of Internal Medicine. It’s a few years old now, but the results are pretty eye-opening, especially if you’ve been struggling with your weight.
This particular study looked at mortality rates based on age and body mass index (BMI) group (normal, overweight, or obese) in a sample of nearly 3500 people. Overall, they found that being overweight or obese were associated with “large decreases in life expectancy.”
More specifically:
- 40 year old male/female non-smokers lost 3.1/3.3 years of life expectancy as a result of being overweight
- 40 year old male/female non-smokers lost 5.8/7.1 years of life expectancy as a result of being obese
- Obese male/female smokers lost 6.7/7.2 years of life expectancy compared to normal weight smokers
- Obese male/female smokers lost 13.7/13.3 years of life expectancy compared to normal weight non-smokers
Beyond the above, the researchers found that BMI in the 30-49 year age range predicted mortality in the 50-69 year age range, even after adjustment for BMI in the 50-69 year age range. Thus, even if you eventually lose weight, it might be too late to matter.
If that doesn’t make you want to lose weight and get in shape right now, then I can’t imagine what will.
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