US Study A Wake-Up Call For 12 Million Obese Indians

New Delhi: People who are obese have a 29% increased risk of premature death. This could come as a wakeup call for 8 million women and 4.4 million men in India who are obese (body mass index of 30 kg/sq m). One of the largest analyses done — 100 studies that included 3 million adults — has found that obesity was associated with a significantly higher all-cause risk of death. In this meta-analysis that looked at 2.7 lakh deaths that occurred in the US, Europe, Mexico, India, Israel, Brazil, Japan, Taiwan, China and Australia, researchers found a 18% higher risk of death for obesity — BMI equal or higher than 30 — and a 29% increased risk of death among those whose BMI was higher than 35.