When it comes to carrying extra fat, a little goes a long way. Being as little as 5% over your ideal weight is associated with a shorter life expectancy. A 50-year-old man who is 50 pounds overweight has half the remaining life expectancy as a man with normal body weight. Excess poundage can make existing health problems worse, causing symptoms of disorders to appear earlier or making them more severe than they would be otherwise.

Being overweight is bad for you, but being obese is deadly. It's thought that 25% of cardiovascular disease in the U.S. is attributable to obesity, in part because carrying around so much extra weight overworks the heart and lungs. Obese people are twice as likely to have hypertension, which in turn can cause stroke and kidney disease. They are also four times as likely to have diabetes. It takes obese people longer to recover from surgery as well, and they are more likely to have complications from surgery.

A Worldwide Epidemic
More than one billion people worldwide are overweight. Obesity is on the World Health Organization's list of the top 10 global health risks, along with heart disease and high blood pressure, two diseases that are linked to it. In the U.S., 65% of adults are overweight, and obesity is blamed for at least 300,000 deaths a year.

Active Fat
Why is fat so dangerous? For many years fat cells were though to be biologically inactive. But it turns out that fat is far from inert. Fat cells secrete numerous chemicals that have been implicated in diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and other disorders and diseases, including some forms of cancer. Obese people have enormous fat cells, which are more metabolically active than normal-size fat cells and churn out more harmful substances.

More on this topic

Understanding Wellness (VIDEO)
What Is Wellness?
Quit Smoking
Smoking & Your Arteries
Eat Healthy
Foods to Avoid
Foods to Enjoy
Fiber Helps Lower Cholesterol
Good Fats: Omegas 3 & 6
The Daily Nutrition You Need
Portion Control
Daily Exercise
Aerobic Exercise
Speed Up Your Metabolism
Benefits of Exercise
Lose Weight
Measuring Fat

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The 9 Visual Rules of Wellness, Wellness and Prevention Part I, Wellness and Prevention Part II, Reverse Aging