In the past several decades, the health media has focused on the effects of obesity and illness, with obesity being defined
as having a body mass index (a measure of hight vs. weight) of 30 or greater. And studies are conclusive that being obese is related to a myriad of chronic
illnesses, especially heart and lung disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. What hasn't been focused on so much, is the hazardous health consequences of being even mildly
overweight. Overweight, but not obese, means having a body mass index between 25 and 30. To find were you stand on the BMI chart, go to www. nhlbi.nih.gov/guidlines/obesity/bmi_tbl.htm
A person does not have to be obese to experience adverse health consequences from being heavier than they should. The contrary to this was widely believed, however, it is now thought that the reason for overweight people (BMI 25 to 30) are able to avoid some of the more deadlier illnesses (heart disease, diabetes, cancer) is due to modern medicine and technology. Such scientific breakthroughs can detect illnesses early on. The financial burden of modern medicine due to overweightness is taking a toll on our society as a whole. In 2004, in the United States, government and insurance programsspent over 100 billion dollars on diseases related to being overweight.
The national institute of health sought to understand the dangerous risks of having a high body weight. They researched over 500,000 reitrees and filtered out other causes of preventable death (i.e. smoking, excessive drinking). They found that being obese (BMI over 30)gave a person twice the chance of an earlier death than other subjects in the study who were of normal weight. Being extremely obese (BMI of 40 or more) gave one four times greater the chance of early death. But even more important, was the findings of those who were overweight, but not obese. It was found that overweight subjects (BMI 25 to 30) were still 20 to 40 percent more likely than normal weight subject to have a shorter lifespan.
So this basically shows that it is crucial to health and longevity to maintain a healthy weight. Many people keep postponing gaining control of their increasing waistlines, thinking that they have time. The truth is, is that in this country, we keep seeing a trend in an increase BMI in the population. The key is to start maintaining a healthy weight in earlier years to develop the healthy habit, and prevent future chronic illness.