The more overweight we are, the shorter our lives: fact! Experts agree one of the best things we can do to live longer is to stay a healthy weight. And for many people that means breaking a life-long habit of overeating.
In 2016, a study confirmed that weighing too much shortens lives. Looking at 3.9 million adults worldwide, the study found that being overweight or obese is directly linked with a higher risk of dying early from conditions such as respiratory disease, heart disease, stroke, and cancer. And it was found the risk increases the heavier we get: being overweight reduces life expectancy by a year, while obese people lose three years of life.
Calculate your BMI
Body mass index (BMI) can identify if you are a healthy weight. To calculate, divide your weight in kilograms by the square of your height in metres: 70kg ÷ 1.7 x 1.7 m = 24.2. A BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 indicates a healthy weight; 25 to 29.9 means you are overweight; and over 30 is a measure of obesity.
Statistics reveal that weight gain becomes more common with age. In the UK, for example, 39 per cent of 16–24-year-olds are overweight or obese, but this increases to 71 per cent of 45–54-year-olds. Yet middle-aged spread doesn’t have to be a fact of life. Yes, our metabolism slows down a little with age and we lose muscle mass, but it is changes (or lack of) in our lifestyle that are mainly responsible for the increases in waistline as we age.
Studies show that severely obese people can expect to live 10 years less than people of a healthy weight.
Only 4 per cent of adults are obese in Japan and the life expectancy is the highest in the world – almost 84 years. In contrast, 27 per cent of Brits and 38 per cent of Americans are obese, with an average life expectancy of 80 years.
The elders of Okinawa, who are renowned for their long and healthy lives, practise something called “hara hachi bu”, which translates as eating until they are 80 per cent full. It’s impossible to know when we’ve reached 80 per cent fullness, but the important message is to stop eating at the point when we could still eat a little more – and well before we are “stuffed”!
The science behind becoming overweight is simple: if we take in more calories from food and drink than we use up, they’re stored as fat and we put on weight. While increasing exercise levels has a role to play in burning more calories, the key factor in reducing weight is to avoid overeating.
