Studies see U.S. obesity becoming less lethal

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While obesity is increasing in the United States, it alone may not be killing as many people as in previous years because of medical and healthcare advances, according to studies published on Tuesday.

A report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that among today’s obese population, the prevalence of High Cholesterol, High Blood Pressure and smoking is now 21, 18, and 12 percentage points lower respectively than among obese persons 30 to 40 years ago.

As a result today’s obese people may be at lower risk for heart-related diseases than in the past.

A second report from the same agency estimated there were 112,000 deaths attributable to obesity in 2000.

While offering no historical comparison with that number, it said “The impact of obesity on mortality may have decreased over time, perhaps because of improvements in public health and medical care.”

This is consistent as well with increases in life expectancy in the United States, it added. The researchers cautioned, however, that it is very difficult to estimate the impact of obesity on death rates in terms of firm numbers.

Both studies, based on a review of government health surveys, were published in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association and used definitions of obesity based on the body mass index which takes into account height and weight. 

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