Obesity's Death Toll May Be Much Higher Than Thought

Researchers have vastly underestimated the number of deaths caused by obesity in the United States, a new report reveals. Obesity accounts for 18 percent of deaths among black and white Americans between the ages of 40 and 85, according to a study published online Aug. 15 in the American Journal of Public Health. Previous estimates had placed obesity-related deaths at only 5 percent of all U.S. mortalities. "This was more than a tripling of the previous estimate," said study author Ryan Masters, who conducted the research as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation scholar at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, in New York City. "Obesity has dramatically worse health consequences than some recent reports have led us to believe." Earlier estimates erred by overlooking generational differences in the way the obesity epidemic has affected Americans, Masters said. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_139786.html