Some experts have suggested that there is an “obesity paradox,” the idea that obese people live longer than those of normal weight. But a new study found that obesity was associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease and a two- to threeyear shorter life span.
The study, in JAMA Cardiology, pooled data from 10 studies of 190,672 people followed from 1964 to 2015. Compared with those of normal weight, overweight men (body mass index of 25 to 29.9) had a 21 percent higher lifetime risk of cardiovascular disease and women a 32 percent higher risk. Among the obese (B.M.I. of 30 to 39.9), the risk was 67 percent higher for men and 85 percent higher for women, with even higher risk for those with a B.M.I. over 40.
Longevity in men who were overweight but not obese was similar to that of men of normal weight. But they had an increased risk of cardiovascular disease at a younger age.
[For more on this story by NICHOLAS BAKALAR, go to https://www.nytimes.com/2018/0...old-up-in-study.html]
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