A research study conducted in Sweden suggests that even by being overweight and not necessarily obese, one out of three could face premature death. People who are clinically obese by the time they are 18 doubles that risk. A combination of obesity and heavy drinking increases such risk by five-fold.
The study assumes importance due to the fact that according to the estimates carried out by the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly a billion people in the world are overweight out of which one third are considered to be obese.
The current study conducted by Martin Neovius of Karolinska Institute in Stockholm is considered to be a milestone as it has it has proved with statistical evidence that being too heavy itself can be as dangerous as smoking a couple of packs of cigarettes a day.