Obesity cuts your life!

By M H Ahssan

Your lifespan could be shrinking in proportion to your growing waistline. In the largest ever investigation of how obesity affects mortality, British scientists have found that seriously obese people die 10 years before they should. Even worse, moderate obesity has been found to shorten lives by three years.

Oxford University researchers reported their finding in Wednesday’s issue of the prestigious medical journal, The Lancet, after analyzing the body mass index (BMI) of a million people who had been weighed and measured in 57 separate studies in Europe and north America. People in the study were followed for up to 20 years, during which time 100,000 died.

Those with a BMI of 30-35 lost three years while severely obese people with BMI of 40-50 had reduced life expectancy by about 10 years. Body mass index is the proportion of a person’s weight to his height and is calculated by dividing an individual’s weight in kg by square of his height in metres.

Epidemiologist Dr Gary Whitlock, who led the analysis, said, “Excess weight shortens human lifespan. If you are becoming overweight or obese, avoiding further weight gain could well add years to your life.” The study’s main statistician, Sir Richard Peto, said people should make a conscious effort against piling on the pounds, which most often happens between the ages of 25 and 50. The study said most obese adults die of heart disease and stroke, although cancer figures are also rising.

According to the international BMI scale, more than 25 is considered overweight and more than 30 obese. However, Indian standards differ. Recent guidelines released by India put the country’s new diagnostic cut-off for being considered overweight at 23 as opposed to 25 globally. As far as obesity is concerned, Indians with a BMI of 25 are now clinically termed as obese as opposed to 30 at the international level.

According to diabetes and metabolic diseases expert Dr Anoop Mishra, by the new Indian standards, the average BMI of a rural Indian is 19.6, those living in urban slums is 20.9, those residing in urban cities is 22.4 and of Indians living in foreign shores is 24.7. In comparison, the average BMI of the Chinese is 22.8, Whites 26.3, Blacks 28.5 and Mexicans 25.7.

“However even though Indians have low BMI, they have higher body fat compared to westeners. Going by the Oxford University study, around 15-20 crore Indians might be facing lower life expectancy due to being obese,” Dr Mishra said. “The best BMI to have, according to Oxford researchers, is about 24 — the group with the lowest mortality rate. In Indians, it would be those with a BMI of 20,” Dr Mishra added.