OBESITY TAKES A HIGHER TOLL ON WOMEN Being overweight or obese increases a person’s risks for health problems and a lower quality of life than people of normal weight, but the health burden linked to weight seems to be far worse for women than men.
For example, overweight women lose 1.8 million quality-adjusted life years annually while overweight men only lose 270,000 quality-adjusted life years annually. Among the obese, women lose 3.4 million quality-adjusted life years each year, compared with 1.9 million for men.
Researchers found that much of the burden of disease among overweight and obese women is linked to lower health-related quality of life, which is a measure of health abilities such as the ability to climb a flight of stairs or walk without breathlessness and late life mortality.
The study’s authors speculate that stress, anxiety and depression might account for some of the difference in the burden of disease due to overweight and obesity between men and women. However, “further research is needed to elucidate the factors that drive the gender difference in morbidity and mortality” between overweight and obese men and women.
The results came from an analysis of the 2000 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and health-related quality of life scores and the 1990-1992 National Health Interview Survey National Death Index data through the end of 1995.
[From: “Gender and the Burden of Morbidity Due to Obesity.” ]
