Too big to ignore: the impact of obesity on mortality trends
In this risk perception report, Swiss Re examines the growing epidemic of obesity and its impact on the life insurance industry.
With links to cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes and many types of cancer, the effects of obesity on public health are becoming an increasing concern world wide. Left unchecked, obesity will be highly detrimental to our life expectancy, our children’s life expectancy, our standards of health, and the global economy more widely.
The rising prevalence of obesity runs counter to the overall decline in mortality rates seen in most developed nations over the past few decades. The possibility that the rate of mortality improvement could have been higher, without the increase in obesity, is too significant to ignore.
