Obese teens have shorter lives

Overweight teenagers have a higher risk of dying from a number of causes in early adulthood and middle age. Changes in diet and sedentary lifestyles have paved the way to epidemics of obesity in several Asian countries including India. To know whether obesity in adolescence increases the risk of dying from specific diseases, researchers in Norway followed 227,000 adolescents, aged between 14 and 17 years. The study participants were divided into four groups on the basis of their body mass index (BMI) - less than average, average, overweight or obese. During the 35 years of follow-up, it was found that 9,650 people died, at an average age of 40 years for males and 43 years for females. Also, both men and women in the obese and overweight groups were more likely to die of endocrine, nutritional or metabolic diseases like diabetes, heart disease or blood vessel disease, such as stroke. Men who had the highest BMIs during adolescence were thrice more likely to die of heart disease than their peers who were within the normal range as teens. The risk was four times greater for females. Moreover, those in the highest BMI group were also about twice as likely to die of cancer and sudden death while the risk for death from respiratory illnesses was also more than doubled in both the sexes. The findings call for the need to develop better diet plans and exercise regimes for teenagers to prevent them from a number of chronic diseases, which may prove fatal.

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