Obesity Kills, Pass It On
It has been politically incorrect for a long time to claim that being obese will shorten life expectancy. Nevertheless, the obesity epidemic will lower life expectancy in America by at least 5 years.
“Obesity has dramatically worse consequences than some recent reports have led us to believe,” according to lead researcher Dr. Ryan Masters of a health research study that was published in print during August 2013.
The public is living in denial. Life expectancy in America has been steadily increasing at the rate of 3 months per year since 1850. These PC people foolishly persist in proclaiming that our ever-increasing lifespan means that obesity is not a public health issue. The Natural Health Perspective, however, disagrees with obesity being just a fashion statement. It positively adversely affects your health and accordingly life expectancy.
This should not surprise anybody interested in good health. There was a similar news story published back in 2005. Furthermore, the same lead researcher, Ryan Masters, of the current study published an almost identical one back in March of 2013, without a peep being made about it in the mainstream media. Further, in our article on the importance of waking up in the morning, researcher Jim Fries has been proclaiming the life shortening effects of obesity since 1980.
Obesity & Your BMI
While the PC people claim that obesity increases mortality risk only by 5% the 2013 research of Ryan Masters says that the correct figure is closer to 18%.
What are we talking about here? First, obesity is more than being a few pounds over weight. It requires a BMI of 30 or greater, which usually means being at least 100 pounds overweight. However, it requires even more than that. The pending public health crisis requires lifelong obesity.
Where does your BMI bodyweight stand?
- < 18.5 is underweight
- 18.5-24.9 is a healthy weight
- 25-29.9 is overweight
- 30-34.9 is Class 1 Obesity (obese)
- 35-39.9 is Class 2 Obesity(severe obesity)
- 40 or more is Class 3 Obesity (morbid obesity)
The conclusion of the 2005 study indicates that the American life expectancy will eventually drop by 5 years due to the obesity epidemic. However, those with extreme obesity, or a BMI of 45, should expect to live 20 years less. According to the United States Federal government there has been no inflation for decades, while food prices continue to reach record levels. Thus, we should all expect the Federal government to lie about the correct life expectancy statistics in America, for as long as they can get away with it.
Of course, as long as you personally do not suffer from lifelong obesity the findings of these health studies will not influence your personal longevity much at all. There are a number of health issues, however, that are related to developing obesity late in life.
UPDATE: Obesity Kills, Pass It On
A new research study from the American Journal of Public Health came up with new numbers that essentially told the same story. Obese adults were found to die 4 years prematurely. Obese middle-aged adults die up to 12.8 years earlier than those of normal weight. Being obese was correlated with at least a 20 percent higher risk of dying from all causes of death.[Borrell 2014]
In conclusion: in the opinion of the Natural Health Perspective those amongst us interested in obtaining congruence between the difference health factions on the Web, should all, as mature adults, be able to agree on the following.
- Smoking is bad for your health, in general.
- Obesity, or being extremely overweight, is bad for your health, in general.
Time to STOP ignoring the obesity crisis. A lifetime of obesity is every bit as deadly as smoking. Children who are obese now and maintain their excess weight till their middle-aged years will obviously end up dying prematurely at an alarming rate.
Spliting hairs over whether the BMI applies to bodybuilders with a lot of muscle rather than fat is largely a non-issue. Walking around with a lot of extra weight will prematurly wear out your joints, if nothing else, whether the excessive weight is from fat or muscle.
Here again, nobody on the Natural Health Perspective is advocating the twiggy or a ballerina skeleton look. There is nothing wrong with being slightly overweight or having body fat. In fact, having some extra body fat increases your chances of survival in the remote event that you ever experience prolonged sickness from some type of communicable disease.
References:
- The Impact of Obesity on US Mortality Levels: The Importance of Age and Cohort Factors in Population Estimates.
Masters RK, Reither EN, Powers DA, ...
Am J Public Health. 2013 Aug 15. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 23948004 - Obesity and US mortality risk over the adult life course.
Masters RK, Powers DA, Link BG.
Am J Epidemiol. 2013 Mar 1;177(5):431-42. doi: 10.1093/aje/kws325. Epub 2013 Feb 3.
PMID: 23380043 - A potential decline in life expectancy in the United States in the 21st century.
Olshansky SJ, Passaro DJ, Hershow RC, ...
N Engl J Med. 2005 Mar 17;352(11):1138-45.
PMID: 15784668 - Body
Mass Index Categories and Mortality Risk in US Adults:
The Effect of Overweight and Obesity on Advancing Death.
Borrell LN, Samuel L.
Am J Public Health. 2014 Mar;104(3):512-9. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301597. Epub 2014 Jan 16.
PMID: 24432921
