The study was conducted at the Copenhagen University Hospital at the hospital’s Institute of Preventive Medicine. The researchers there included more than 5,000 men took part in the study, starting from age 20 through to age 80. Of these, nearly 2,000 were obese when they began the trial. The research took into account influences such as smoking, year of birth, and education, but did not consider other factors, such as hereditary diseases.The study concluded that the risk of premature death in already obese men increased 10 percent for every point surpassing the healthy level of 25 body mass index points. Body mass index (BMI) is used to determine an individual’s body fat using height and weight calculations.

“At age 70 years, 70 percent of the men in the comparison group and 50 percent of those in the obese group were still alive and we estimated that from middle-age the obese were likely to die eight years earlier than those in the comparison group,” said Esther Zimmermann, who led the study. Though the research did not include women, it confirmed findings made in similar studies.

The most surprising part of this study was not elaborated upon. Was research done as to why obesity was unlikely to develop later in life? In any event, a healthy diet later in life is important whether or not extreme weight gain is an issue

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