Overweight and Obesity

Americans are becoming more overweight

Americans have become more overweight and obese.¹ The prevalence of overweight (defined as a BMI 25 or higher) increased from 56% to 65% largely due to the rising prevalence of obesity (defined as a BMI of 30 or higher) which increased from 23% to 31%.  These results are alarming and the health implications will be profound. 

Obesity is as detrimental to your health as smoking

We have known that overweight and obesity are detrimental to our health but life expectancy results from the Framingham Heart Study are astonishing.²  Non-smoking obese adults (BMI >_ 30) at age 40 lived 6 to 7 years less than their normal weight counterparts.  These decreases in life expectancy are similar to that seen with smoking.  For non-smoking overweight individuals (BMI 25-29.9) lived about 3 years less than their normal weight counterparts.