Thought Leadership in Action

Being overweight or obese has long been associated with several often serious health consequences. For example, excess weight raises the risk for heart disease, hypertension, chest pain and type 2 diabetes. Not only do these conditions cause suffering on an individual basis, but they comprise four of the ten health conditions that are most costly to U.S. employers, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The U.S. has a significant overweight population and, unfortunately, not much progress has been made in getting this weighty problem under control. In fact, CDC statistics show that nearly 70% of all Americans age 20 or older are now overweight or obese. However, according to a study published in the medical journal The Lancet, there are strategies that can potentially improve the health of those who are carrying around excess weight.

The research, conducted by a worldwide consortium led by a team from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), Imperial College London, and the University of Sydney, found that controlling 3 specific things may substantially reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke associated with being overweight or obese:

• Blood pressure
• Serum cholesterol
• Blood glucose levels

Strategies to Slash Heart Attacks by Half

In all, the researchers analyzed 97 prospective studies involving a total of 1.8 million participants in different parts of the world. The results provide a comprehensive and definitive look at the risks posed by blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose and reveal new information about how these risk factors are likely pathways through which obesity increases the odds that an overweight person will develop heart disease and/or experience stroke.

The study concludes that high blood pressure, elevated serum cholesterol and blood glucose are directly linked to as much as half of the increased risk of heart disease and three-quarters of the increased risk of stroke among the overweight or obese. Overall, high blood pressure was found to be the biggest risk of all, resulting in 31% of the increased risk of heart disease and 65% of the increased risk of stroke among those who are overweight.

“Our results show that the harmful effects of overweight and obesity on heart disease and stroke partly occur by increasing blood pressure, serum cholesterol, and blood glucose. Therefore, if we control these risk factors, for example through better diagnosis and treatment of hypertension, we can prevent some of the harmful effects of overweight and obesity,” Goodarz Danaei, HSPH assistant professor of global health and senior author of the new study, explained in a media statement.

Weight Control Remains Crucial

The new study, while offering hope that some weight-related health risks can be reduced or controlled, notes that weight loss is still the optimum goal for those who are overweight or obese. In fact, a previous study by the same research team has called attention to the scope and seriousness of the global health consequences of obesity. Not only is being overweight linked to the leading causes of death worldwide – heart disease and stroke – but it is also associated with diabetes and several types of cancer.

The researchers pointed out than 1.4 billion adults aged 20 and older are overweight or obese and that worldwide obesity has nearly doubled since 1980. They previously estimated that 3.4 million annual deaths are due to people being overweight and obese.

“Controlling hypertension, cholesterol, and diabetes will be an essential but partial and temporary response to the obesity epidemic,” Majid Ezzati, a co-author and professor of global environmental health at the Imperial College London and adjunct professor of global health at HSPH, said. “As we use these effective tools, we need to find creative approaches that can curb and reverse the global obesity epidemic.”