Obesity at 20 Doubles Premature Death Rate for Remainder of Life

New research links obesity at an early age to premature death down the road. Specifically, being obese when you’re 20 may double your risk of death for the rest of your life. Being normal weight at 20, however, dramatically decreases your risk of becoming obese as you age.

Researchers at the Institute of Preventive Medicine in Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark studied 5,500 men between the ages of 20 and 80, including 1,930 men who were obese at the age of 20. Their findings, which were presented at the International Congress on Obesity in Stockholm, Sweden, showed that men were twice as likely to die at any age if they had been obese when they were 20. The risk of death increased by 10% for every body mass index point beyond the normal weight range.

The study also showed that 70% of men who had been obese at 20 were still obese when they reached 35 and 46 years of age. Conversely, only 4% of the normal weight 20-year-olds became obese.

These findings are particularly important now as over half of Americans 20 years or older are currently considered overweight or obese. Understanding exactly how obesity is linked to early death and what can be done to prevent it is vital for improving the longevity of these obese Americans.