Overeating may be worse for your health than a lifetime smoking habit and chronic drinking, new survey findings suggest, Reuters Health reports. In a survey of more than 9,500 Americans surveyed, obesity was associated with higher rates of chronic medical problems and a poorer quality of life than was alcohol abuse, smoking and poverty. In the US today there are more overweight and obese adults than there are smokers or problem drinkers, according to findings published in the current issue of the British journal Public Health. "These findings," the investigators report, "reinforce prior recommendations that weight control become a higher national priority, especially given the dramatic increases inprevalence of overweight." Drs. Roland Sturm and Kenneth Wells of RAND, a Santa Monica, California-basednonprofit organization analysed data from interviews with adults nationwide regarding their height, weight, income, smoking and drinking habits and chronic medical conditions. People who smoked throughout their lives and lived in poverty were significantly more likely to have a chronic disease such as asthma, diabetes, arthritis or heart disease. But the effects of smoking and poverty were smaller than those of obesity on both a person'shealth and quality of life. Source: Journal of Public Health 2001;115:229-235 and Reuters Health
