According to study findings, between 1993 and 2008, the proportion of adult smokers declined by 18.5 percent, while the proportion of obese adults had risen by 85 percent during the same period. Overall, smoking was found to cause more fatalities, but obesity was found to cause more illness. Worldwide, health experts are concerned that steadily increasing rates of obesity could lead to the first widespread decline in life expectancy in over 200 years.
Study researchers analyzed data collected from interviews to calculate the Quality-Adjusted Life Years (Qalys) lost due to both obesity and smoking. According to their calculations, the Qalys lost as a result of smoking are now equal to, if not greater than, those lost because of obesity.
According to Dr. Arya Sharma, chairman for obesity research and management at the University of Alberta in Canada, "Health impacts of obesity are, in many ways, much larger than the health impacts of smoking. [Smoking] in the end, is limited to heart disease and cancer."
Diabetes, by comparison, has been linked to a whole host of serious health problems, including liver disease, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, sleep apnea, joint replacement and more.
(Sources: www.hindustantimes.com,www.suntimes.com, www.canada.com)
Posted By: Aspen Education Group