Obesity Impact
Summary

Obesity poses significant health problems. There is an increased risk of mortality for obese people, both from heart disease and from cancer, that becomes significant for a BMI above 30. Some research indicates that even at lower values of BMI, there is a risk associated with a "protruding middle", although having a BMI between 25 and 30 does not seem to pose a mortality risk. In addition, obese people are more prone to a variety of illnesses that have a detrimental impact on their day-to-day life, especially type II diabetes.

The research we have seen on exercise indicates that keeping in good physical shape is very important to one's health. It is possible that obesity leads to lack of exercise (or vice versa), but it is clear that the two factors together are responsible for the increased mortality and probably also for other illnesses. Any way one considers this issue, it seems that to stay healthy, one must both keep one's weight down and exercise. The exercise studies show that regular exercise helps people maintain a lower weight, while directly (and indirectly, through lowering weight) promoting health.

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