As weight goes up, so does death risk
Adults who become overweight or obese have a higher risk of dying from heart disease, cancer or other illnesses, a new study suggests.
Further, the risk of dying increases in proportion to the amount of excess weight you gain, the researchers found.
The results undercut the so-called obesity paradox -- a theory that obesity could protect the health of some people and even give them a survival advantage, said senior study author Andrew Stokes. Hes an assistant professor of global health with the Boston University School of Public Health.
In the study, Stokes and his colleagues tracked the weight history of more than 225,000 participants in three large studies, gauging the maximum body mass index (BMI) of each person across an average of 16 years.
We found that after considering weight history, the apparent paradoxical association between overweight/obesity and the risk of dying completely disappeared, Stokes said.
Morbidly obese people were twice as likely to die from any cause, more than three times as likely to die from heart disease, and 50 percent more likely to die from cancer compared with normal-weight folks, researchers concluded.
Previous studies with results supporting the obesity paradox have only checked participants BMI at one point in time, producing a weight snapshot that might not reflect the persons actual excess pounds over their lifetime, Stokes said.
This can bias the results, when you consider that many people with a fatal illness frequently lose a lot of weight prior to death, he said.
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