Excess weight also shortens the time you live free of chronic diseases that lower quality of life, researchers say
WebMD News from HealthDay
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Dec. 4, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- The heart disease and diabetes that often accompany obesity may rob people of almost a decade of life and close to two decades of a healthy life, Canadian researchers report.
"Not only is excess body weight associated with a significant reduction in life expectancy, but with an even greater reduction in healthy life years," said lead researcher Dr. Steven Grover, a professor of medicine at McGill University in Montreal.
"While losing weight or exercising regularly is not easy for many of us, the potential benefits are huge," he said.
For example, Grover said, a modest reduction in weight of about 10 pounds and as little as 30 minutes of daily physical activity most days of the week have been proven to reduce the risk of developing diabetes by as much as 60 percent.
"The potential benefits of losing weight and exercising in preventing a heart attack or stroke are also substantial," he said.
"Appreciating the impact excess pounds has on our life expectancy and healthy years of life will hopefully provide health professionals with a new diagnostic measurement to motivate some individuals to make healthy changes to their lifestyle," Grover added.
While the study found an association between obesity and life span, it did not prove that obesity shortens life.
The report was published in the Dec. 5 online edition of The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.
Edward Gregg is chief of the epidemiology and statistics branch in the division of diabetes translation at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and author of an accompanying editorial in the journal. He said, "Obese people, and particularly very obese people, have such a large increase in diabetes that it means that the average obese person will spend a very large portion of their life with diabetes and with other chronic conditions."
At the same time, there is some good news, he said. "There has been progress in reducing death rates from heart disease, and there is good evidence that lifestyle changes and regular preventive care can reduce diabetes, heart disease and the disability that follows," Gregg said.
source : Obesity-Related Ills May Shave Up to 8 Years Off Your Life: Study
