Fast Facts – Obesity-Related Chronic Disease

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OBESITY is a complex chronic disease in which abnormal or excessive accumulation of body fat impairs health. Adult obesity rates have more than doubled since the 1980s — in the U.S. today, obesity affects over 42% of adults and 18% of youth.^1,2 Obesity and its related complications are major drivers of rising healthcare costs, diminished health-related quality of life, and the recent decline in U.S. life expectancy. This fact sheet is part of a series designed to provide basic information about the science of obesity and current strategies to address it.

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Diabetes

• Overweight and obesity increase risks of type-2 diabetes and gestational diabetes.³
• Research has shown that losing weight can significantly reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
  • A 5-7% weight loss together with moderate levels of physical activity (e.g. walking 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week) decreased the number of new type 2 diabetes cases by 58% among people at risk for diabetes^4,5

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Heart Disease

• Over 80% of patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) have overweight or obesity. Although obesity is sometimes considered a minor CHD risk factor, weight loss can reduce major risk factors like high blood pressure (hypertension), insulin resistance, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia.⁶
  • Obesity increases the risk for hypertension, which damages arteries in the heart, brain, kidneys, and eyes⁷
  • If average BMI is reduced by 5 percent by 2030, over 5 million Americans could be spared from developing obesity-related hypertension⁸

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Cancer

• Obesity-related cancers include endometrial, esophageal adenocarcinoma, gastric cardia, liver, kidney, multiple myeloma, meningioma, pancreatic, colorectal, gallbladder, breast, ovarian and thyroid cancers.⁹
• According to the CDC, approximately 55% of cancer diagnoses for women and 24% of cancer diagnoses for men are associated with overweight and obesity.¹⁰
• In 2014, the American Cancer Society calculated that 123,350 new cancer cases were associated with excess body weight in the United States. ¹¹

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Stroke

• Obesity is associated with cardiometabolic conditions that increase individual long-term risk of heart disease and stroke, including: ^8,12
  • high blood pressure
  • high levels of harmful blood fats (triglycerides)
  • high levels of “bad cholesterol” (low-density lipoprotein, LDL)
  • low levels of “good cholesterol” (high-density lipoprotein, HDL)

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Osteoarthritis

• Obesity is a major risk factor for development of osteoarthritis (OA), particularly of the knee.
  • Three-quarters of people with OA have overweight or obesity¹³
  • Adults with obesity are up to four times more likely to develop OA of the knee than adults without obesity¹⁴

Under Investigation: Excessive Weight Gain in Early Adulthood 

Approximately 1 in 4 women and 1 in 8 men gain 44 pounds or more between the ages of 18 and 55 years. New research suggests that preventing excessive weight gain during this period may be a promising target for intervention.

Weight gain ≥ 44 pounds during early to middle adulthood significantly increases chronic disease risk

1.5x more likely to die prematurely
among male non-smokers who gain ≥ 44 lbs from early to middle adulthood (21-44 year range)

1.4x more likely to die prematurely
among female non-smokers who gain ≥ 44 lbs from early to middle adulthood (21-44 year range)