Laura Gray
speaker
148 appearances
8 recordings
1 series
first heard Nov 2012
last heard Jul 2014
Laura Gray’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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Appearances
Laura, is it really true?
While it's true that the number of people who are obese and suffering from obesity-related illnesses is higher for this generation than previous ones, death rates from heart attacks and strokes, which are illnesses often associated with obesity, are actually going down steeply, as Sir Richard Peto, Professor of Medical Statistics at the University of Oxford in England, explains.
The trend is the same.
Mexico is now the fattest country in the world and even there people are less likely to die earlier.
And this is partly because the treatment for heart-related problems is now so much better than in the past.
Also paradoxically, research in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that being overweight may actually lead to a longer life.
While obese people may die earlier than people of normal weight, overweight people may live longer than people with a normal body weight.
And this is called the obesity paradox.
Well, how does that work?
The authors of the report suggest it's possible that overweight people get better medical care, either because they show symptoms of disease earlier or because they're screened more regularly for chronic diseases stemming from their weight, such as diabetes or heart problems.
And there's also some evidence that heavier people may be more likely to survive certain operations.
So you should worry if you're obese, but worry less if you're a bit overweight?
Unlikely.
Fat or not, around the world we're likely to live longer than our parents, as Richard Peto explains.
There isn't one explanation.
Better vaccination programmes and drugs, cleaner water, controlled infections, trained midwives and people stopping smoking are all contributing factors.
Not necessarily.
If you're obese, you run the risk of type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, among other things, which diminish quality of life.
So although you might get a few more years because of better healthcare, they won't necessarily be golden ones.
So stay away from the pies.
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