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‘Obesity is top cause of preventable life-years lost’

By Chukwuma Muanya, Assistant Editor
26 April 2017   |   3:47 am
Preliminary work presented by Cleveland Clinic at the 2017 Society of General Internal Medicine Annual Meeting analyzed the contribution of modifiable behavioral risk factors to causes-of-death in the U.S. population, using 2014 data.

Eating regular meals and watching less than an hour of TV an evening also help prevent obesity. The study of almost 11,000 British children found a strong link between a well-defined family structure and emotional behaviour at the age of 11. PHOTO: AFP /getty images

*Regular bedtimes make children less likely to be obese as adults

A team of researchers from Cleveland Clinic and New York University School of Medicine, United States (US), has found that obesity resulted in as much as 47 percent more life-years lost than tobacco, and tobacco caused similar life-years lost as high blood pressure.

Preliminary work presented by Cleveland Clinic at the 2017 Society of General Internal Medicine Annual Meeting analyzed the contribution of modifiable behavioral risk factors to causes-of-death in the U.S. population, using 2014 data.

Based on this preliminary work, the team found the greatest number of preventable life-years lost were due to (in order from greatest to least) obesity, diabetes, tobacco use, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. However, researchers also noted that some individuals may have needs that are very different than those of the broader U.S. population. For an obese and alcoholic patient, for example, alcohol use may be more important to address than obesity, even though obesity has a greater impact on the population.

Results highlight the clinical and public health achievement of smoking cessation efforts because 15 years ago, tobacco would have topped the list. “Modifiable behavioral risk factors pose a substantial mortality burden in the U.S.,” said Glen Taksler, Ph.D., internal medicine researcher from Cleveland Clinic and lead author of the study. “These preliminary results continue to highlight the importance of weight loss, diabetes management and healthy eating in the U.S. population.”

A key takeaway is that three (diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol) of the top five causes of death can be treated, so helping patients understand treatment options and approaches can have a powerful impact on life-years. The results also highlight the importance of preventive care in clinical practice and why it should be a priority for physicians.

To estimate the number of life-years lost to each modifiable risk factor, researchers examined the change in mortality for a series of hypothetical U.S. populations that each eliminated a single risk factor. They compared the results with the change in life-years lost for an “optimal” population that eliminated all modifiable risk factors. Recognizing that some less common factors might place substantial burden on small population subgroups, they also estimated life expectancy gained in individuals with each modifiable risk factor.

“The reality is, while we may know the proximate cause of a patient’s death, for example, breast cancer or heart attack, we don’t always know the contributing factor(s), such as tobacco use, obesity, alcohol and family history. For each major cause of death, we identified a root cause to understand whether there was a way a person could have lived longer.”

Taksler and colleagues are continuing to conduct research in this area, and analyze and refine results. Also, research shows that putting children to bed at the same time every night stops them gaining too much weight.

Eating regular meals and watching less than an hour of TV an evening also help prevent obesity. The study of almost 11,000 British children found a strong link between a well-defined family structure and emotional behaviour at the age of 11. This in turn affected whether or not they were likely to be obese, the research found.

Sarah Anderson, the American scientist who led the study, said a good bedtime routine was key. She added: “This study provides more evidence that routines for preschool-aged children are associated with their healthy development and could reduce the likelihood that these children will be obese.

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