Leaner people have a better quality of life

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Tuesday, September 30, 2003 10:05 pm Email this article
Obese people experience a poorer health-related quality of life than leaner people according to a new study from researchers at West Virginia University's School of Pharmacy.

The more obese a person was the more likely they were to experience at two weeks per year of mental health problems and two weeks of physical problems limiting physical activity.

Severely obese people were 1.4 times as likely to experience two weeks of mental health problems per year, and obese people were 1.2 times as likely compared to normal weight people.

Similarly, severely obese people were 1.7 times as likely to experience at least two weeks of physical health problems per year causing limitations in physical acitivity, and obese people were 1.2 times as likely compared to normal weight people.

The study included 182,372 people of which 44 percent were normal weight, 36 percent were overweight (BMI 25-30), 14 percent were obese (BMI 30 or more), and 7 percent were severely obese (BMI 40 or more).

REFERENCE

Hassan M, Joshi A, Madhavan S, Amonkar M. Obesity and health-related quality of life: a cross-sectional analysis of the us population. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2003 Oct, 27(10):1227-32.

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