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CNN Live At Daybreak

New Study on Obesity and Mortality

Aired January 07, 2003 - 06:51   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The more weight you put on, the more time you're taking off your life. That's the headline for a new study on obesity and mortality.
CNN medical contributor Dr. Sandra Fryhofer has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANDRA FRYHOFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Everyone pretty much knows that being overweight can shorten your life. But by how many years? A new study in the "Annals of Internal Medicine" shows for the first time just how much your life is shortened if you're overweight or obese at age 40.

DR. ROBERT H. ECKEL, AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION: If you were overweight, you basically lived three years less long and if you were obese, you lived approximately six to seven years less long.

FRYHOFER: So what's the difference between overweight and obese? It's based on the body mass index, which is the ratio of weight and height. For example, a 40-year-old woman who's 5'5" and weighs more than 150 pounds is considered overweight and she can expect to cut three years of life expectancy. Add another 30 pounds to that same woman, she now weighs over 180 pounds, she's considered obese and she'll lose a total of seven years of life.

It's the same for men. A 6' tall man who weighs more than 184 pounds is considered overweight and at 221 pounds he's obese and can expect to lose six years life expectancy.

Smokers who have the middle-aged spread are hit with a double whammy. Obese smokers can subtract seven more years from life expectancy. That means smoking men and women will live 13 to 14 years less than their non-smoking normal weight neighbors.

So what's a person to do?

ECKEL: The important message from a study like this is let's work on prevention. Let's work with young people to try to prevent that increase in body fat.

FRYHOFER: Dr. Eckel recommends losing approximately a pound a week by cutting out 500 calories a day, which is a realistic goal to set and should result in five to 10 percent loss in body weight. To find out if you're overweight or obese, you can go to www.cdc.gov, type in BMI calculator and put in your own height and weight and it will calculate your BMI for you. Your goal is to be under the magic number of 25. And this can help you look forward to a normal life expectancy.

(on camera): This study does have some limitations. It only looked at residents living in a predominantly white, middle class neighborhood. As a result, these trends may not apply to other racial and ethnic groups, like Hispanics, African-Americans and Asians. Still, the study frames the effect of being overweight in a way that everyone can understand, that's how long you live.

Dr. Sandra Fryhofer, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And one more note. You can't talk about obesity without talking about dieting. And our favorite nutritionist Lisa Drayer has the low down on low carb diets -- are they healthy, do they work? Tune into CNN DAYBREAK tomorrow at 6:00 Eastern time. Find out.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired January 7, 2003 - 06:51   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The more weight you put on, the more time you're taking off your life. That's the headline for a new study on obesity and mortality.
CNN medical contributor Dr. Sandra Fryhofer has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANDRA FRYHOFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Everyone pretty much knows that being overweight can shorten your life. But by how many years? A new study in the "Annals of Internal Medicine" shows for the first time just how much your life is shortened if you're overweight or obese at age 40.

DR. ROBERT H. ECKEL, AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION: If you were overweight, you basically lived three years less long and if you were obese, you lived approximately six to seven years less long.

FRYHOFER: So what's the difference between overweight and obese? It's based on the body mass index, which is the ratio of weight and height. For example, a 40-year-old woman who's 5'5" and weighs more than 150 pounds is considered overweight and she can expect to cut three years of life expectancy. Add another 30 pounds to that same woman, she now weighs over 180 pounds, she's considered obese and she'll lose a total of seven years of life.

It's the same for men. A 6' tall man who weighs more than 184 pounds is considered overweight and at 221 pounds he's obese and can expect to lose six years life expectancy.

Smokers who have the middle-aged spread are hit with a double whammy. Obese smokers can subtract seven more years from life expectancy. That means smoking men and women will live 13 to 14 years less than their non-smoking normal weight neighbors.

So what's a person to do?

ECKEL: The important message from a study like this is let's work on prevention. Let's work with young people to try to prevent that increase in body fat.

FRYHOFER: Dr. Eckel recommends losing approximately a pound a week by cutting out 500 calories a day, which is a realistic goal to set and should result in five to 10 percent loss in body weight. To find out if you're overweight or obese, you can go to www.cdc.gov, type in BMI calculator and put in your own height and weight and it will calculate your BMI for you. Your goal is to be under the magic number of 25. And this can help you look forward to a normal life expectancy.

(on camera): This study does have some limitations. It only looked at residents living in a predominantly white, middle class neighborhood. As a result, these trends may not apply to other racial and ethnic groups, like Hispanics, African-Americans and Asians. Still, the study frames the effect of being overweight in a way that everyone can understand, that's how long you live.

Dr. Sandra Fryhofer, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And one more note. You can't talk about obesity without talking about dieting. And our favorite nutritionist Lisa Drayer has the low down on low carb diets -- are they healthy, do they work? Tune into CNN DAYBREAK tomorrow at 6:00 Eastern time. Find out.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com