Overweight ‘at greater risk of dying early’

BEING overweight or obese increase the chances of dying early, especially in men, new research has shown.

A study of 3.9 million adults found that those who were moderately obese died three years prematurely on average. Overweight people lost about one year of their expected life span.

Overall the association with premature death before the age of 70 was three times stronger for overweight and obese men than for women.

Weighing too much raised the risk of heart and lung disease, stroke, and cancer, said the researchers writing in The Lancet medical journal.

Dr Emanuele Di Angelantonio, from Cambridge University, said: “On average, overweight people lose about one year of life expectancy, and moderately obese people lose about three years of life expectancy.

“We also found that men who were obese were at much higher risk of premature death than obese women. This is consistent with previous observations that obese men have greater insulin resistance, liver fat levels, and diabetes risk than women.”

The World Health Organisation estimates that 1.3 billion adults worldwide are overweight, and that a further 600 million are obese.

Body Mass Index (BMI), which relates a person’s weight and height, is used by experts to define overweight and obese limits.