Dying for Food

I recently re-read an article that was published a couple of years ago in the medical journal, Lancet.  The study was paid for by Britain's Medical Research Council, the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK and others.  Given the sad fact that the obesity epidemic has only gotten worse since this article was first published, there are now even more people at risk of early death due to being overweight and obese.  Here's an excerpt from the article I read.

“Obesity Can Trim 10 Years Off Life”

Being obese can take years off your life and in some cases may be as dangerous as smoking, a new study says. British researchers at the University of Oxford analyzed 57 studies mostly in Europe and North America, following nearly one million people for an average of 10 to 15 years. During that time, about 100,000 of those people died.

The studies used Body Mass Index (BMI), a measurement that divides a person's weight in kilograms by their height squared in meters to determine obesity. Researchers found that death rates were lowest in people who had a BMI of 23 to 24, on the high side of the normal range.

Health officials generally define overweight people as those with a BMI from 25 to 29, and obese people as those with a BMI above 30.

 "If you are heading towards obesity, it may be a good idea to lose weight," said Sir Richard Peto, the study's main statistician and a professor at Oxford University.

Peto and colleagues found that people who were moderately fat, with a BMI from 30 to 35, lost about three years of life. People who were morbidly fat — those with a BMI above 40 — lost about 10 years off their expected lifespan, similar to the effect of lifelong smoking.

Moderately obese people were 50 percent more likely to die prematurely than normal-weight people, said Gary Whitlock, the Oxford University epidemiologist who led the study.

He said that obese people were also two thirds more likely to die of a heart attack or stroke, and up to four times more likely to die of diabetes, kidney or liver problems. They were one sixth more likely to die of cancer.

"This really emphasizes the importance of weight gain," said Dr. Arne Astrup, a professor of nutrition at the University of Copenhagen who was not linked to the Lancet study. "Even a small increase in your BMI is enough to increase your risks for cardiovascular disease and cancer."

I can't help but ask myself, am I willing to die for food?  I’ve seen people standing on street corners holding signs that say, “Will work food,” but I can tell you with assurance that I’m not willing to stand on a corner with a sign that says, “Will die for food.”

I am willing to die for my faith (Jesus died for me, and I would die rather than renounce my Savior); I would die for my husband, my children or my grandchildren.  I would possibly die to save the life of a stranger.

But I refuse to die for food!  As I approach my five-year anniversary of reaching my goal, I am SO happy to know that although I will ultimately die of something, it will NOT be of an obesity-related disease!  I refuse to cut my life short – as many as 10 years short, according to this article – because of food. 

Because obesity can never be cured, only managed, I commit again today to make the choices I need to live a long and healthy life.  I’m too busy living to die for food!  You have a choice to make today, too . . . choose wisely :-)