Teenage obesity 'as bad as smoking'
Teenage obesity has been found to be as bad for overall health as taking up smoking, new research has revealed.
Research published in the British Medical Journal and carried out in Sweden has revealed that individuals who smoke ten cigarettes a day have the same likelihood of suffering an early death as those who became obese in their teenage years - both of which can severely impact upon an individual's affordable health insurance premiums.
The largest at risk group, however, was found to be those individuals who were both obese and smoked more than ten cigarettes per day. They were found to be five times more likely to suffer an early death than those who did not smoke and were of a healthy weight.
Dr Martin Neovius at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, who carried out the study, wrote in the paper: "The findings indicate that from a mortality perspective, targets for young men should be within the non-smoking, normal weight range and that overweight, obesity and smoking among adolescents might be good targets for intensified public health initiatives."
Meanwhile, NHS Information Centre statistics recently revealed that the number of individuals undergoing gastric bypass surgery in the UK totalled 2,724 operations nationally in the last two years.
However, the NHS only recommends this type of procedure as a last resort and only for individuals who have a body mass index in excess of 40.
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