Obesity danger 'rivals smoking'

Keeping pounds off may be easier
than losing weight once it is gained

Oxford experts are warning that being obese can shorten your life span by a decade and could be as dangerous as smoking for your lifetime. The researchers took data from a million people around the world based on their BMI (Body Mass Index). BMI is calculated by taking a person's mass in kilograms and diving by the square of their height in meters. A BMI of 30 or above is considered to be obese. This is useful in determining the level at which an excess of body fat becomes a health risk. The researchers discovered that about 1 in 4 citizens of the UK are moderately obese (BMI above 30). Being overweight is a problem since it increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. This could become a rival of smoking since people may start dying of obesity-related deaths before smoking-related diseases, like cancer, can perpetrate. They argue that smoking has a 100 percent health risk associated with it, and is 100 percent preventable. The increasing number of overweight people in world is starting to cause more deaths than those related to smoking, like cancer. To prevent this, the researchers believe that it is easier to keep the weight off while in the middle ages than try to lose the weight once it has been put on, especially later in life. It has been discovered that carrying only about 10-15 pounds of extra weight can shorten a life span by 3 years. Overall, the researchers suggest that people around the world attempt to eat better and exercise more, as well as not smoke, in order to prevent a shortened life.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7946290.stm