Weight Management Articles

Wellness Report on Obesity: Losing Weight May Add Years to Your Life! By Staff Writer.

New studies confirm that obesity is on the rise, bringing with it a greater risk of diabetes and a lower life expectancy.

Overweight linked with premature death. In January 2003, the Journal of the American Medical Association featured a study that found that obesity appears to lessen life expectancy, especially among young adults.

The researchers compared Body-Mass Index (BMI) to longevity and found a correlation between premature death and higher BMIs.

For example, a 20-year-old white male, 5’10” weighing 288 pounds with a BMI of greater than 40 was estimated lose 13 years of his life .” as a result of obesity.

While this study referenced extreme levels of obesity, there are still millions of overweight Americans with a life expectancy rate that is three to five years less than their healthy-weight counterparts.