Obesity risks may have been underestimated

Obesity is already known to be a risk factor for various health problems such as heart disease, certain cancers, diabetes, and to increase the risk of mortality. Studies have also shown that being underweight carries some health risks – of developing lung cancer, for instance. Now an intergenerational mortality study from researchers in Bristol, UK and the Karolinska Institute, Sweden, sheds new light on the health risks of obesity and suggest they may have been underestimated in the past (while the risks of being underweight have been overestimated).