• ENG

Being obese in your 20s and 30s can make you die early

Being obese in your 20s and 30s can make you die early
A new study claims obesity can cut down life expectancy by 10 years. © Shutterstock

A new Australian Research found that people who are obese in their 20s and 30s could end up losing up to 10 years of life expectancy and men were even doomed to lose more years as compared to women.

Written by Debjani Arora |Published : October 16, 2018 9:45 AM IST

If you are obese in your 20s or 30s there is quite a high chance of you being ignorant about your health and fitness. With youth on your side, you might think that there is still time to fight the lard and get back in shape and save yourself from the impending dangers of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and the likes in your 40s and 50s, but some study says that this approach towards health and fitness can spell doom for you.

A new Australian Research found that people who are obese in their 20s and 30s could end up losing up to 10 years of life expectancy and men were even doomed to lose more years as compared to women. The researchers at The George Institute for Global Health and the University of Sydney conducted this study and published the findings in the International Journal of Obesity. The new study used a microsimulation model of obesity progression in Australia to calculate the expected amount of weight that adults will put on every year depending on their age, sex and current weight.

For the study, the researchers used a nationally representative sample of 12,091 adults aged 20 to 69 to represent a population of 14.9 million. After taking into account the current life expectancy in Australia, and the higher mortality of people with who are overweight and obese, the model predicted the remaining life expectancy for people in their 20s, 30s, 40, 50s and 60s in four different Body Mass Index (BMI) categories; healthy, overweight, obese and severely obese.

Also Read

More News

The researchers also calculated the number of years lost over the lifetime for people with excess weight in each age group, compared to those with a healthy weight. The findings showed that on average, healthy weight men and women in their 20s can expect to live another 57 and 60 years, respectively. But for those carrying extra weight in early adulthood, life expectancy was cut short. The finding further pointed out that women who are classified as overweight in their 20s and 30s are predicted to lose up to six of years of life and men around eight years, while women classified as severely obese are expected to lose eight years with men losing ten.

The team also found that although carrying excess weight affected the life expectancy of every age group, the risk of death appeared to decrease with age. So this makes it clear that to fight the lard you should not wait too long. Hit the gym, go for walks and sweat it out while you are young to increase life expectancy.

The model showed that obese women in their 40s will experience a reduction of 4.1 years in life expectancy, while obese men will lose 5.1 years, and for those in their 60s, women are estimated to lose 2.3 years and men 2.7 years.

There is the assumption that overweight and obesity is a problem for people in middle age, and that people in their 20s and 30s are in the prime of their lives. Yet currently, only 43 per cent of Australian men in their 20s and 34 per cent in their 30s are in a healthy weight range, which is worrying reportedly said the co-author Associate Professor Alison Hayes.

We know that excess weight has an impact on your health, but to have excess weight as a young adult is really significant on life expectancy. We are talking about losing up to 10 years of your life added lead author Dr Thomas Lung.

The scary part is the authors say that the model predicts adult obesity prevalence will increase to 35 per cent by 2025. So, we need to act now and have obesity prevention strategy targeting adults at all ages and in particular young adults concluded Dr Lung. Should we Indians worry about this? Given that we are touted as the global diabetic capital with an increase in a number of people suffering from heart ailments and cardiovascular diseases among the youth, we have much to worry with the researchers also noting that the findings are also relevant to other high-income countries.