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Obesity can cut lifespan by 14 years

Severe obesity can shorten someones life by as much as 14 years, new research says.

By Alan Goforth | Updated on July 09, 2014
(AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

Obesity is closely connected to heart disease, diabetes and other conditions that can drive up health care costs for employers. Obese employees also may be less capable of performing basic physical tasks that their jobs require. However, employers may not realize that severe obesity can shorten someone’s life — and time of productivity in the workforce — by as much as 14 years.

“We found that the death rates in severely obese adults were about 2-1/2 times higher than in adults in the normal weight range,” said lead investigator Cari Kitahara, a research fellow at the U.S. National Cancer Institute. This risk is comparable with smoking.

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