Ten years ago, the AARP surveyed more than half a million members about their weight, height and medical histories. The point was to study the relationship between body mass index, or BMI, and the risk of early death. The results of the study were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. At the time the surveys were mailed out, physician Tim Byers says that the concern about weight-related mortality seemed remote, especially to people who considered themselves just a few pounds overweight. As researchers followed the volunteers and tracked who died, they began to see that just 15 or 20 pounds of extra weight can have a significant effect.
A frequent side effect of an injury is weight gain. Defense attorneys will frequently argue that excess weight is not a big deal. But excess weight is very difficult for some people to lose and obvsiouly has serious health consequences – even effecting a person’s life expectancy.
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