Overweight and obesity increase the risk of several diseases. Now researchers at Lund University have looked at how weight gain at different ages affects health.
They analyzed data from over 600,000 people whose weight was recorded on at least three occasions.
The conclusion is that those who developed obesity between the ages of 17 and 29 had around a 70 percent higher risk of premature death compared with those who did not develop obesity before the age of 60.
One explanation may be that the body is exposed to the biological effects of excess weight for a longer period of time when weight gain occurs early in life.
The study has been published in eClinicalMedicine.
