Years of life lost due to obesity.
BACKGROUND
Public health officials and organizations have disseminated health messages regarding the dangers of obesity, but these have not produced the desired effect.


OBJECTIVE
To estimate the expected number of years of life lost (YLL) due to overweight and obesity across the life span of an adult.


METHODS
Data from the (1) US Life Tables (1999); (2) Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III; 1988-1994); and (3) First National Health and Nutrition Epidemiologic Follow-up Study (NHANES I and II; 1971-1992) and NHANES II Mortality Study (1976-1992) were used to derive YLL estimates for adults aged 18 to 85 years. Body mass index (BMI) integer-defined categories were used (ie, <17; 17 to <18; 18 to <19; 20 to <21; 21 to 45; or > or =45). A BMI of 24 was used as the reference category.


METHODS
The difference between the number of years of life expected if an individual were obese vs not obese, which was designated YLL.


RESULTS
Marked race and sex differences were observed in estimated YLL. Among whites, a J- or U-shaped association was found between overweight or obesity and YLL. The optimal BMI (associated with the least YLL or greatest longevity) is approximately 23 to 25 for whites and 23 to 30 for blacks. For any given degree of overweight, younger adults generally had greater YLL than did older adults. The maximum YLL for white men aged 20 to 30 years with a severe level of obesity (BMI >45) is 13 and is 8 for white women. For men, this could represent a 22% reduction in expected remaining life span. Among black men and black women older than 60 years, overweight and moderate obesity were generally not associated with an increased YLL and only severe obesity resulted in YLL. However, blacks at younger ages with severe levels of obesity had a maximum YLL of 20 for men and 5 for women.


CONCLUSIONS
Obesity appears to lessen life expectancy markedly, especially among younger adults.
Fontaine
Kevin R
KR
Division of Rheumatology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md, USA.
Redden
David T
DT
Wang
Chenxi
C
Westfall
Andrew O
AO
Allison
David B
DB
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy; D015993:Life Tables; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D019057:Quality-Adjusted Life Years; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data