Death Risk Increases As Weight Gain Continues

Category: Diet and Nutrition

Extreme obesity has been escalating in the U.S. Obesity is defined as being 20 to 30 pounds above the average weight for a person's age, sex and height, and having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher. Extreme obesity is a BMI of 40 or higher. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that about 325,000 deaths in the U.S. per year are linked to obesity. Obesity is a major risk factor for a long list of chronic and potentially deadly diseases and increases the risk of death. Now research reports that as obesity worsens the risk of death increases, with an 86 percent greater risk for the extreme obese.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, investigated the association of body weight and extreme obesity with the risk of death. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, analyzed data from the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study including 90,185 women, followed from 1993 to 2004. The participants were classified as normal weight (BMI of 18.5 to 24.9), overweight (BMI of 25 to 29.99), and three categories of obesity - obesity 1 (BMI of 30 to 34.9), obesity 2 (BMI 35 to 39.9) and extreme obesity (BMI 40 and higher).

The researchers found that the risk of death became statistically significant with increasing obesity. The risk of death increased 12 percent in the obesity 1 group and increased 86 percent in the obesity 3 group, compared with the normal weight group. Findings also revealed that the weight related risk for death did not differ by race or ethnicity.

"Considering obesity as a body mass index of 30 or higher may lead to misinterpretation of individual and population risks," the study authors conclude. "Escalating extreme obesity may exacerbate health effects and costs of the obesity epidemic."


REFERENCES:
1. McTigue K et al. Mortality and cardiac and vascular outcomes in extremely obese women. JAMA 2006 Jul 5;296(1):79-86.

Posted by Elaine Gavalas on January 16, 2014 10:00 AM