New study shows the effects of obesity mirror those of aging
Globally, an estimated 1.9 billion adults and 380 million children are overweight or obese. In their paper published in Obesity Reviews, the researchers argue that obesity should be considered premature aging. They look at how obesity predisposes people to acquiring the kinds of life-threatening diseases normally seen in older individuals: compromised genomes, weakened immune systems, decreased cognition, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer and other illnesses.