Abstract
The number of people with overweight or obesity is increasing the world over.The Netherlands is no exception:In the past 20 years the percentage of obese people has practically doubled to about 12 percent. Our present-day food-orientated consumer society with an abundance of calorie-rich food and a structural lack of physical exercise is often given the blame.Obesity raises health risks,and until the 1990s overweight and obesity were thought to be related to an increased mortality risk.Studies at the time indicated that adiposity was very damaging for one’s health and that it claimed as many years of life as smoking.More recent research results from the late 1990s show,however,that overweight at an advanced age does not increase the risk of mortality.In fact,men older than 55 who are overweight live 1.5 years longer than normal-weight men.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 10-11 |
| Journal | Demos: bulletin over bevolking en samenleving |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | special issue |
| Publication status | Published - 2008 |