A new study following 4,000 people for three decades indicates that 90 percent of men and 70 percent of women will eventually become overweight.
Even among those who reached middle age without any weight problems, half still became overweight, and a third of those women and a quarter of the men became obese. Obesity was defined as a body mass index (a commonly used height-to-weight comparison) of more than 30.
The findings demonstrate that obesity is an even greater problem than indicated by "snapshot" studies, which look at a population at only one point in time. These studies have generally shown that about six in 10 are overweight and about one in three are obese.
Obesity raises the risk of many illnesses, including:
- Heart disease
- Cancer
- Diabetes
- Arthritis