Obesity's Rise May Hurt Smoking Gains In Lifespan

Dec. 4, 2009— -- A drop in smoking has meant an increase in life expectancy for many Americans, but some of those gains may be overcome by increasing levels of obesity, making French fries a possible 21st century version of the cigarette, a new study suggests.

Researchers from Harvard, Michigan and the nonprofit National Bureau of Economic Research projected life expectancies for Americans if current trends -- both in decreasing rates of smoking and rising obesity -- continued.

They found that although life expectancy rates would continue to rise, they would rise more slowly -- almost 9 months shorter for an average 18 year-old -- because of an increase in overall obesity rates.

Factoring in quality of life, researchers say the increase in life expectancy will be almost 11 months shorter.

"We think life expectancy will probably continue to go up, due to lots of other factors," said Susan Stewart, a research associate for NBER and the Harvard Program for Health Systems Improvement. "Because of obesity, it won't go up as much as it otherwise would."

The researchers said if current trends continue 45 percent of Americans will be obese by the year 2020.

Stewart said she hoped the study would bring more attention to the severity of the potential consequences of the obesity issue and start a national conversation about how to reverse the trend.

Many lifestyle factors, such as the availability of junk food, a lack of time to cook meals at home and a sedentary lifestyle can contribute, she said.

Another issue, she said, was a lack of awareness of what obesity's affects are, listing diabetes, cardiovascular disease, joint problems and possibly cancer as obesity risks. She noted that cancer risk is not as clear as the others, but said it would solidify the problem if research were clearer, since people avoided smoking because of its association with lung cancer.

While she has countered the suggestion that people may want to eat junk food to enjoy life more, Stewart said the study contradicts that notion, since it looked at life span adjusted for quality of life.

"There's a larger forgone gain in quality of life expectancy. So we're giving up not just life expectancy [but] quality of life," said Stewart, explaining that it flies in the face of the argument that unhealthy lifestyles help people enjoy their time on earth more.