Current News on Obesity
Obesity and Mortality
The Impact on Longevity
The link between obesity and mortality has been studied for years. While assumptions from a 1999 study that showed significantly higher risk of premature death in individuals, both male and female, with a body mass index of 40 or higher, have softened somewhat, there still is a notable link. The impact that excess weight has on your body should not be ignored.
One of the challenges with such studies has always been that the weight alone generally is not the primary cause of death. As life insurance underwriters know all too well, it is the host of collateral health issues and the compounding effect of obesity that takes the toll and causes a loss of quality of life and longevity.
The compounding effect is a cycle whereby a person’s eating habits lead to weight gain, and the weight gain leads to less physical activity, which leads to more weight gain. For many it is an almost impossible cycle from which to break free.
The collateral health issues begin to occur as the body is overtaxed by providing the energy for and attempting to balance organ functions to accommodate the added weight. At the lower end of the BMI scale, the mildly overweight, this load on the body is fairly easy to adjust to. On the upper end, when a BMI of 40 or more, the severely obese, is reached, the body and it’s organs are working overtime.
Breakdowns in ability to function start to manifest in things such as elevated glucose, susceptibility to cancer, and heart disease.
While BMI alone is not a measure of mortality, unchecked obesity does hold a greater risk of disease and premature death.