Life expectancy in US could be about to decline

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

According to a new study, the rise in obesity in the United States might lead to an decrease in life expectancy.
It is well known that obesity increases the risk of heart disease and perhaps cancer. Given that rates of obesity in the United States have now been increasing for several years, it is likely that there might be some impact on life expectancy.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago now say that obesity may reduce life expectancy by four to nine months. This might not sound like much but it is more than the reduction caused by accidents, homicide and suicide combined. It may also be that the shortening of life expectancy may increase dramatically over the next few decades. This will, hopefully, act as a wake up call to the general public. It would be a pity if the gains in health over the last 50 years or so were lost by people not keeping to a healthy weight.

Source
New England Journal of Medicine 17th March 2005