Obesity Surpasses Smoking as Number One Health Threat
January 21st, 2010
It is no surprise that “lose weight” and “quit smoking” are among the most common New Year’s resolutions. Both smoking and being overweight can significantly increase your risk of diseases such as type 2 diabetes, asthma and even certain cancer1. While smoking has long been vilified as a known killer, obesity has only recently garnished attention as a major contributor to morbidity and mortality in the United States.
Now a new study out of Columbia University and The City College of New York has found that the obesity epidemic poses an equal or greater threat to health- related quality of life than smoking2. Published in the American Journal of Preventive Health, the study analyzed data of more than 3.5 million adults according to the Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System. The findings showed that the quality-adjusted life years, or QALYs, lost to obesity are equal to or greater than lose due to smoking. Over the past 15 years, the number of adult smokers decreased 18.5 percent while the number of obese Americans increased 85 percent.
The same week as this research was published, a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, reported that if both smoking and obesity rates in the United States go unchanged than the life expectancy in American will be reduced by nearly nine full months3. However, if all U.S. adults become non-smokers of a normal weight by 2020, life expectance could increase by 3.76 years of life.
For those who are morbidly obese, losing the weight can be as difficult as quitting smoking if not harder. Weight loss procedures available at St. Vincent’s Medical Center can help. Visit our site to learn more about bariatric surgery, read success stories or attend a free seminar and learn how this year you can accomplish a New Year’s Resolution that will benefit your health and overall well being.
1. Jia H, Lubetkin EI. Trends in quality-adjusted life-years lost contributed by smoking and obesity. Am J Prev Med 2010; DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2009.09.043
2. CDC: “Overweight and Obesity: Health Consequences”. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/causes/health.html
3. Stewart, S.T., Cutler, D.M., & Rosen, A.B. (2009). Forecasting the Effects of Obesity and Smoking on U.S. Life Expectancy. New England Journal of Medicine. Vol361:2252-2260
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