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      Obesity and Trends in Life Expectancy

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          Abstract

          Background. Increasing levels of obesity over recent decades have been expected to lead to an epidemic of diabetes and a subsequent reduction in life expectancy, but instead all-cause and cardiovascular-specific mortality rates have decreased steadily in most developed countries and life expectancy has increased. Methods. This paper suggests several factors that may be masking the effects of obesity on life expectancy. Results. It is possible that health and life expectancy gains could be even greater if it was not for the increasing prevalence of extreme obesity. It is also possible that the principal impact of obesity is on disability-free life expectancy rather than on life expectancy itself. Conclusion. If the principal impact of obesity were through disability-free life expectancy rather than on life expectancy itself, this would have substantial implications for the health of individuals and the future burden on the health care system.

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          Most cited references18

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          Impact of body mass index and the metabolic syndrome on the risk of cardiovascular disease and death in middle-aged men.

          The purpose of this study was to investigate associations between combinations of body mass index (BMI) categories and metabolic syndrome (MetS) and the risk of cardiovascular disease and death in middle-aged men. At age 50 years, cardiovascular risk factors were assessed in 1758 participants without diabetes in the community-based Uppsala Longitudinal Study of Adult Men (ULSAM). According to BMI-MetS status, they were categorized as normal weight (BMI 30 kg/m(2)) without MetS (n=30), or obese with MetS (n=66). During follow-up (median 30 years), 788 participants died, and 681 developed cardiovascular disease (composite of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for myocardial infarction, stroke, or heart failure). In Cox proportional-hazards models that adjusted for age, smoking, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, an increased risk for cardiovascular disease was observed in normal-weight participants with MetS (hazard ratio 1.63, 95% confidence interval 1.11 to 2.37), overweight participants without MetS (hazard ratio 1.52, 95% confidence interval 1.28 to 1.80), overweight participants with MetS (hazard ratio 1.74, 95% confidence interval 1.32 to 2.30), obese participants without MetS (hazard ratio 1.95, 95% confidence interval 1.14 to 3.34), and obese participants with MetS (hazard ratio 2.55, 95% confidence interval 1.81 to 3.58) compared with normal-weight individuals without MetS. These BMI-MetS categories significantly predicted total mortality rate in a similar pattern. Middle-aged men with MetS had increased risk for cardiovascular events and total death regardless of BMI status during more than 30 years of follow-up. In contrast to previous reports, overweight and obese individuals without MetS also had an increased risk. The present data refute the notion that overweight and obesity without MetS are benign conditions.
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            Increases in morbid obesity in the USA: 2000-2005.

            R. Sturm (2007)
            It is well known that citizens of developed countries are more likely to be overweight than they were 20 years ago. The most serious health problems are not associated with overweight or moderate obesity, however, but with clinically severe or morbid obesity (e.g. more than 100 pounds (45kg) overweight). There is no reason to expect that morbid obesity trends parallel overweight or moderate obesity. If morbid obesity is a rare pathological condition that has biological causes, the more than 10-fold increase in bariatric surgery procedures over the past eight years in the USA could have even lowered the prevalence of morbid obesity-and may very well stem the problem in other countries. To estimate trends for extreme weight categories (BMI>40 and >50) for the period between 1986 and 2005 in the USA, and to investigate whether trends have changed since 2000. Data from The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (a random-digit telephone survey of the household population of the USA), for the period from 1986 to 2005, were analysed. The main outcome measure was body mass index (BMI), calculated from self-reported weight and height. From 2000 to 2005, the prevalence of obesity (self-reported BMI over 30) increased by 24%. However, the prevalence of a (self-reported) BMI over 40 (about 100 pounds (45kg) overweight) increased by 50% and the prevalence of a BMI over 50 increased by 75%, two and three times faster, respectively. The heaviest BMI groups have been increasing at the fastest rates for 20 years. The prevalence of clinically severe obesity is increasing at a much faster rate among adults in the USA than is the prevalence of moderate obesity. This is consistent with the public health idea that the population weight distribution is shifting, which disproportionately increases extreme weight categories. Because comorbidities and resulting service use are much higher among severely obese individuals, the widely published trends for overweight/obesity underestimate the consequences for population health. The aggressive and costly expansion of bariatric surgery in recent years has had no visible effect on containing morbid obesity rates in the USA.
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              The number of years lived with obesity and the risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality.

              The role of the duration of obesity as an independent risk factor for mortality has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to analyse the association between the duration of obesity and the risk of mortality. A total of 5036 participants (aged 28-62 years) of the Framingham Cohort Study were followed up every 2 years from 1948 for up to 48 years. The association between obesity duration and all-cause and cause-specific mortality was analysed using time-dependent Cox models adjusted for body mass index. The role of biological intermediates and chronic diseases was also explored. The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for mortality increased as the number of years lived with obesity increased. For those who were obese for 1-4.9, 5-14.9, 15-24.9 and ≥ 25 years of the study follow-up period, adjusted HRs for all-cause mortality were 1.51 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.27-1.79], 1.94 (95% CI 1.71-2.20), 2.25 (95% CI 1.89-2.67) and 2.52 (95% CI 2.08-3.06), respectively, compared with those who were never obese. A dose-response relation between years of duration of obesity was also clear for all-cause, cardiovascular, cancer and other-cause mortality. For every additional 2 years of obesity, the HRs for all-cause, cardiovascular disease, cancer and other-cause mortality were 1.06 (95% CI 1.05-1.07), 1.07 (95% CI 1.05-1.08), 1.03 (95% CI 1.01-1.05) and 1.07 (95% CI 1.05-1.11), respectively. The number of years lived with obesity is directly associated with the risk of mortality. This needs to be taken into account when estimating its burden on mortality.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                J Obes
                J Obes
                JOBES
                Journal of Obesity
                Hindawi Publishing Corporation
                2090-0708
                2090-0716
                2012
                13 May 2012
                : 2012
                : 107989
                Affiliations
                1Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, The Alfred Centre, 99 Commercial Road, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia
                2National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
                3Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Repatriation Hospital, Heidelberg, VIC 3084, Australia
                Author notes

                Academic Editor: Abel Romero-Corral

                Article
                10.1155/2012/107989
                3359718
                22655173
                ce9222fe-6ea7-4c14-99c6-9f9f307bc785
                Copyright © 2012 Helen L. Walls et al.

                This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                : 9 January 2012
                : 14 February 2012
                Categories
                Review Article

                Nutrition & Dietetics
                Nutrition & Dietetics

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