Methods of Estimating Years of Life Lost Due to Obesity
- Anna Peeters, PhD;
- Luc Bonneux, MD, PhD;
- Jan Barendregt, PhD;
- Wilma Nusselder, PhD
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Department of Public Health
Erasmus Medical Centre
Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
- KEYWORDS:
- longevity
- obesity
- public health
To the Editor: Dr Fontaine and colleagues1 estimated that a body mass index (BMI) of 33 at age 40 years was associated with a loss of life expectancy of 2 to 3 years. In contrast, we recently reported that a BMI of 30 or more (mean BMI of 33) at age 40 years was associated with a loss of 6 to 7 years of life.2 We believe that the method used by Fontaine et al underestimates the health effects of lifelong obesity. While we used a cohort life table to answer a cohort question, Fontaine et al used a period life table to answer a cohort question.
The cohort life table describes survival of a true cohort, using the age-specific mortality rates from a single cohort across many periods. This requires a population with a narrow age range at baseline and a long period of follow-up. By contrast, …
