Obesity danger 'rivals smoking'

[OhioChick]

Tuesday, 17 March 2009


Being severely obese is as hazardous to health as a lifetime of smoking, shortening life by a decade, a group of Oxford University experts has warned.

Even moderate obesity cuts life expectancy by about three years, says the Clinical Trial Service Unit.

The findings, published in The Lancet, come from data on almost a million people from around the world.

In the UK, a quarter of adults are now considered obese, with a body mass index (BMI) above 30.

BMI is useful for assessing the extent to which fatty tissue causes ill health.

It is calculated by dividing a person's weight in kilograms by the square of their height in metres.

A person 1.70m (5 ft 7") tall would be considered moderately obese if they weighed 90kg (14 stone) rather than the ideal 70kg (11 stone).

Each incremental rise in BMI above the healthy zone of 20-25 increased premature death risk, the Clinical Trial Service Unit concluded.

Severe obesity - a BMI of 40 to 50, which applies to about 2% of the UK population - reduced life expectancy by about 10 years.

Moderate obesity - a BMI of 30-39, which applies to one in four UK adults - reduced life expectancy by three years.

Much of the obesity-related risk is down to heart disease and stroke, and to a lesser extent cancer.

Amongst middle-aged people in the UK, as many as one in four deaths from heart attack or stroke and one in 16 cancer deaths are due to being overweight or obese, the researchers estimate.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7946290.stm

[donheld]

1. Obesity is worse than smoking

[Kalyke]

51. Sure is.

Many people in Europe smoke like chimneys and drink like fish, but they live longer and healthier lives for several reasons:

More vacation time
Socialized medicine and, the biggie
They're not nearly as overweight.

[deaniac21]

2. What a surprise.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[flvegan]

6. BMI is a crap measurement.

[SteelPenguin]

47. absolutely

unless you're a fairly skinny dutch person, it doesn't apply to you. My bone mass is so dense that I sink like a stone in a pool, and even when I'm in superb shape my BMI is considered obese. It's made getting health insurance interesting because I'll get rejected for being obese and have to appeal it.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

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[RagAss]

8. Remember This.....When an obese smoker dies...the death statistic goes to "Smoker" !

That's why smoking related death numbers are a fraud !

[Lost in CT]

13. Hell when a smopker dies from obesity related heart disease it's blamed on the smoking...

Obesity is clearly worse for you...

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

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[Bake]

57. Hell, when a smoker dies of OLD FREAKIN' AGE, it's blamed on smoking.

That reminds me, time to go burn one ...

:smoke:

Bake

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

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[K8-EEE]

24. Smoking and obesity often go hand in hand simply because

heavy smokers most of the time can't comfortably exercise....I was really shocked walking up a SLIGHT incline with my smoker friend, she is only 45 years old and huffing, puffing and phlemming out, I'm a bit older than her and didn't even feel it.

Once you get over 40, most people can either exercise every day or be fat. Also they are more likely to have one more drink with the cig -- you won't see many smokers & drinkers on the hiking trails in the early a.m.!

[smalll]

9. The regressive taxes on cigarettes (and even roll-your-own tobacco now, thanks to SCHIP) will soon

spread to things like Hot Pockets, Cinnabons and mayonnaise. Today's elite hates smokers, and hates fat people almost as much. Start stocking up on your Twinkies now.

[RedCappedBandit]

31. What's wrong with mayonnaise?

[jkirch]

33. Lots 'o calories.

[RedCappedBandit]

34. Calories are good!

[Lost in CT]

36. I would love to see a tax on processed foods. nt

[Deja Q]

10. So is homelessness, joblessness, et ceteralessness.

:(

[surrealAmerican]

56. Good point, Deja Q.

Poverty has been consistently proven to shorten lifespans throughout history. It is perhaps the biggest threat to human health.

[billyoc]

11. Wos, according to the data, I actually died in 1957.

:hi:

[Incitatus]

14. RIP nt

[Withywindle]

17. Best post on this thread!

According to all the "data" about smoking/drinking/drugs/risky sex/eating fatty foods/bad things that can happen to young women traveling/etc., I actually died before I was born. This was obviously shocking news to my mother!

[K8-EEE]

25. LOL, good one n/t

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

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[Withywindle]

18. No shit, Sherlock.

I'm a scrawny person from a long line of scrawny people. No "works" involved in my slimness, it's all "grace." So yes, there is a huge genetic component to obesity. And yet, when I was a kid in the 70s and 80s, we all knew who the "fat kid" was in our class. There was only one, or two! And the "fat kids" of my childhood would be only "chunky" or "full-figured" or "plump" by contemporary standards. Even in Appalachia, I never knew a single soul who was too obese to fit into a seat in a movie theater or a bus. Now I see several every day. So obviously something has changed, and you can't chalk it all up to genes because evolution just doesn't move that fast.

My weakness is, I'm a smoker. I can't even blame family - neither of my parents smoke, I picked it up as a teenager.

Given the choice between two problems that will take years off the life of a person involved? I'll stick with smoking! I can still easily and quickly walk the 4 blocks to my bus stop; I can walk up the three flights to my apartment several times a day without breathing hard. It hurts to watch my obese suburbanite friends who come to visit and act like the normal amount of walking I do *every single day* is some kind of athletic marathon. It's not. I just don't have or need a car, and what they call "walking all over hell's half-acre" is what I call "just coming home from work, doing the grocery shopping, stopping off for a pint at the local and then going home."

[CTyankee]

54. You really do have to want to quit smoking. I was able to do it because I questioned

whether, even after 20 years of smoking, I was truly addicted. Turns out I wasn't at all. I decided I simply did NOT want to be a smoker any more. I didn't like the smell on my clothes and my skin and in my hair. I didn't like feeling like a social reject. I quit, period. I did gain a few pounds but it was worth it. Years later, I watched a dear friend die of lung cancer. She had quit smoking about a year before discovering the cancer but it was too late. We were all devastated; she was a fine person...

[Withywindle]

58. That's part of my problem, I'm afraid.

I need to work on wanting it more. :(

[eridani]

19. Where are the controls?

Simply controlling for level of aerobic conditioning eliminates the association according to Cooper Aerobics Institute. No controls for income, family history or access to health care either. And since when does high BMI necessarily mean excess fatty tissue?

[patriotvoice]

23. Exactly: BMI = 29, %bf = 10%

BMI fails to consider bone density or muscle mass; instead it relies on the concept of ideal proportions, as expressed most succinctly by the Vitruvian Man. A more useful measurement would be a ratio of circumferences about the belly (male) or hips (female) to the ankle.

[eridani]

43. Besides which, high blood pressure correlates with high lean body mass, not fat

I was also wondering where the controls were for comparative lack of access to health care, lower income, family histories, etc.

[patriotvoice]

48. Best that can be said for BMI: it's a "rule of thumb" calculation.

We engineers have loads of simple formulas that replace complex ones when we need to make quick estimates. But, we never use these for "final" work though: you don't build bridges with estimates!

The human body is a complex system. To think we can express how "healthy" or "how potentially unhealthy" someone is by a single number is, well, childish. And, as eridani points out, it's even more foolish a number when the lack of controlled variables is considered.

So... anybody got a few million they want to throw at a case-controlled, double blind study that takes measurements of the human body at various locations (in a controlled fashion of course) and captures statistical information about ethnicity, family history, income, etc. as well as a subjective rating of how "thin" or "fat" the person is?

[eridani]

49. I agree. I was getting away from my original point. Some control studies HAVE been done

Cooper Aerobics Institute studies control for level of aerobic conditioning, and the association of heart disease with fat completely disappears.

[Kalyke]

52. That wouldn't work, either.

If we did that, I'd have no body mass. I'm a female with very small hips.

My weight is in my stomach from having two large children and two C-sections. I'm having tons of trouble losing the weight and have discovered that I have separated muscles, which may be causing a hernia and, guess what, since it's pregnancy-related, it's not covered by insurance! If I were a man and tore a muscle, it'd be fixed.

Whoops - sorry for the rant. I'm just pointing out that any sort of stock measurement won't work for some people.

:hi:

[Sirveri]

21. I'm fat, and I don't care.

People seem to think I don't know it's unhealthy.

I do.

People seem to think I don't know how to diet/exercise.

I do, as well if not better than most.

The truth of the matter is, I'm lazy and I don't care about my weight or my appearance.

It's simply not important to me. And pretty much everyone fat and thin knows that being a fat ass is unhealthy. For me it's a lifestyle choice, and I'll live my life any damned way I please.

[W_HAMILTON]

37. ...

:grouphug:

[La Lioness Priyanka]

26. the number of deleted messages corresponds to the statistical data

that shows a severe prejudice toward the obese

[Lost in CT]

27. I think it is more sensitivity toward the obese that caused the deleted messages....

I'm sure if this was an anti-smoking thread there would be not be the same level of sensitivity.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

30. i really doubt that.

[OhioChick]

41. "I'm sure if this was an anti-smoking thread there would be not be the same level of sensitivity."

True.

[flvegan]

29. Deleted subthread.

What? I just wanted to be like everyone else. Look at my lonely post way up there, all alone.

[Lost in CT]

32. You are the only one, a shining light in a sea of darkness and corruption...

Praise to the one....

(Sorry watching Omen 3 with Sam Neill I think it is rubbing off)

[Missy Vixen]

42. Obviously, you've never experienced that "prejudice" up close and personal

If you think that the vast majority of the American public, or even most posters on DU, are kindly inclined to the fat, I have news for you.

:eyes:

[La Lioness Priyanka]

46. maybe before rolling your eyes, you should re-read what i wrote.

[BlooInBloo]

28. It's too bad that obese folks are 100% absolutely powerless to do ANYTHING about it...

(shrug) Oh well.

[eridani]

44. You can make any behavioral change you want. You just can't control the results

As we all know, all people who eat right have the same BMI, and all peoplw who don't have the same, albeit much higher BMI?

[Hell Hath No Fury]

35. I have seen it in my own family.

Mom decided to drop some weigh -- joined Weight Watchers, started going to the gym -- dropped a good deal of weight and went from 3 high blood pressure meds to zero.


It was hard work but totally worth it.

[cobalt1999]

38. This must have been an interesting thread before all the "Deleted subthreads"

Too bad work made me miss all the fun!

[AlCzervik]

39. Another magic thred, the more replies it get the shorter it becomes, awesome.

[madamesilverspurs]

40. Being somewhat on the chunky side...

I have a certain perspective on the matter. Few years back I got really sick and was treated with huge doses of steroids. In less than a year I packed on an additional 120 pounds. Ouch physically, with added ouch from the comments my weight elicited. It took a while, but I managed to lose half of that added weight before it plateaued. Being female and of a certain age seems to compound the difficulty, those factors being in good company with rotten knees and a bum hip. Me and the docs continue to work on it, but with low BP and no cholesterol problems I'm a happy camper. I've managed to accept that this is how I am today.

[Lucian]

45. BMI is pure bullshit.

I'm 5'6", 195 lbs, and the BMI says I'm obese. I'm nowhere near obese. The BMI formula fails to consider bone density, the amount of muscle mass (muscle weights more than fat, btw), among other things.

[Obamanaut]

50. I agree. I spoke of this on another thread a while back. I'm 5'8",

200 lbs, and have lifted weights since a teenager. At age 66 now, I just use dumbbells, a bicycle, and yard work and feel fine with no meds for blood pressure, cholesterol etc normally associated with geezerhood.

[GumboYaYa]

53. Diabetes, heart disease, stroke, all on thre risein the US and it correlates

closely to the risein obesity. We don't need a study to tell us that obesity is a serious health problem.

There is plenty of blame for this to go around starting with the procesed food industry and the evil high fructose con syrup, but at the end of the day we all control what we put in our mouth and how much we exercise.

[seabeyond]

55. genetics kick both smoking and obesity's ass.... n/t

[verdalaven]

59. Not scientific, purely anecdotal, but here goes

My grandmother was obese, diabetic - had a series of strokes at age 76 and died at age 78. She was a non-smoker.

My mother-in-law was thin, active (yet also Type II diabetic - tightly controlled until after her strokes) - had a series of strokes at age 76 and died at age 78. She was a smoker (camels, no filters!)

In the past year, at my husband's place of work (a shop) two healthy young men under the age of twenty five have died instantly of heart attacks. One smoked. The other was a drinker, I think. I just mention them, because sometimes life is baffling and unfair.

I think these studies are interesting, but don't mean shit, really. No matter how pretty we are, healthy we are, young or old, or fat or skinny, etc - We all die.

They do serve one purpose, however. They make it harder for people who are overweight to get affordable health insurance.

So, maybe lack of affordable health care is why the obese die earlier than the smokers? Is there a study on that?