Obesity can rob you of over eight years of your life

By Caribbean Medical News Staff
If you are obese, you may lose eight years of your life. This is according to a team at McGill University in Canada that showed that youth and obesity alongside type 2 diabetes and heart problems can equal a reduced lifespan among other findings.
Though the health risks are well documented, McGill said that some individuals still remained ignorant of the effects of obesity on lifespan. Despite the work of many regional (Caribbean) healthy lifestyle initiatives and public education awareness programmes, the Caribbean has highly obese populations with Barbados being known as the “amputation capital of the world” when it comes to type 2 diabetic complications such as limb amputation. Many NGOs have met with CARICOM Government officials to discuss the scourge of NCDs plaguing the region.
According to the report, the Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, the team calculated the risks of weight on life expectancy comparing 20 to 39 year olds at a healthy weight alongside those of the same age-range who were severely obese. In the case of women, 6.1 years was lost while men lost over 8 years.
“Our computer modelling study shows that obesity is associated with an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, including heart disease and stroke, and diabetes that will, on average, dramatically reduce an individual’s life expectancy. The pattern is clear. The more an individual weighs and the younger their age, the greater the effect on their health, as they have many years ahead of them during which the increased health risks associated with obesity can negatively impact their lives,” Prof Steven Grover said.
“This research study yet again supports the clear message that by becoming obese you not only take years off your life, but also life off your years in terms of experiencing more years in poor health rather than enjoying a happy, active and productive life. How many wake up calls do we need?” said Barbara Kinsdale of Heart Research UK, a British Charity.
“Whatever size you are, small, manageable but sustainable changes are the way forward for a happier, healthier and longer life, and reduced risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes,” she said.
“People persist in thinking that fat is just fat and appear ignorant of the many diseases that a high body mass index triggers. If they were told that they could lose a leg or go blind from diabetes or develop life-threatening complications from other similar diseases, I am sure they would think hard and twice before piling on the pounds, ” said Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum,UK.
Meanwhile Caribbean Ministers of Health and several NGOs from CARPHA to HCC and others continue to educate the public on healthy lifestyle as non-communicable health disease continues to burden health care systems in the region can cause premature death and irreversible illnesses.