Being too fat or skinny increases the risk of dying young from any cause apart from transport accidents, a major study has found.
Obese men can expect to live 4.2 years less than those of a healthy weight and blokes who are too slim 4.3 years less. The figures for women are 3.5 and 4.5 years, respectively. People with a body mass index of 25 were least likely to die prematurely, with each 5 unit increase or decrease raising the risk by a fifth. Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine analysed data on 3.6million Brits and 367,512 deaths.They found obese people, with a BMI of 30 or higher, were more likely to die from cancer, diabetes, and heart, respiratory and liver diseases. But they were no more likely to suffer a death related to a transport accident, mental health or brain diseases than someone of a healthy size.
Being underweight – having a BMI of 18.5 or less – was linked to a higher risk of death from dementia, suicide, and heart and respiratory diseases. But skinny people were no more likely to die in a transport accident or from liver cirrhosis than someone of a healthy weight. The boffins estimate that more than one in 20 deaths is caused by people being too fat. Study leader Dr Krishnan Bhaskaran said: “BMI is a key indicator of health. BMI outside the healthy range was associated with up to several years of lost lifespan. We found important associations between BMI and most causes of death examined. This highlights that body weight relative to height is linked to risk of a very wide range of conditions.” The study did not examine people’s diets or exercise levels, so were unable to say how these factors may influence BMI, health and death risk. The findings are published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology.
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