Jun 7, 2006

Disability has an enormous effect on the quality of life of older adults, says Barry Popkin, a nutrition professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research shows that being obese increases people’s chances of becoming physically disabled, staying in the hospital longer, retiring earlier, going to a nursing home sooner and staying there longer.

In one study, he found that extremely obese people — those who are 80 or more pounds over a healthy weight — are 2.3 times more likely than normal-weight people to stay in hospitals longer or to end up in nursing homes after an illness.

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