Health: Being Overweight Cuts 1 Year Off Life Expectancy, Being Obese Cuts 3 Years Off

New research published in the medical journal ‘The Lancet’ has revealed that being overweight or obese increases the risk of early death. The research also showed that men are three times more like to die earlier than women.

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

Being overweight or obese causes about 1 in 7 of all premature deaths in Europe and 1 in 5 in North America. According to the report obesity is second only to smoking for causing premature death in the USA and Europe.

The report also highlighted that Being overweight or obese also increases the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, respiratory and cancer. According to the World Health Organisation there 1.3 billion adults who overweight and a further 600 million who are obese.