Research
Mixed
High BMI is the leading cause of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and kidney diseases, accounting for 89.3% of all high-BMI-related DALYs.
Focusing on weight management is the most effective way to reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and kidney disease, as these conditions are the primary drivers of health loss associated with high BMI.
StrongSupportsVERY_HIGH confidence
In 2017, cardiovascular disease was the leading cause of high-BMI-related DALYs... followed by diabetes and kidney diseases... and neoplasms... they together accounted for 89.3% of all high-BMI-related DALYs.
Why this rating
Based on comprehensive global modeling of 2017 data.
Source
The global burden of disease attributable to high body mass index in 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: An analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study
Haijiang Dai et al. · PLoS Medicine · 2020
DOI 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003198
cross_sectionalCited 878×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- High body mass index (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m²) is a major global cause of disease burden, contributing to 2.4 million deaths and 70.7 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in females and 2.3 million deaths and 77.0 million DALYs in males in 2017, with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and kidney diseases being the leading causes.Strong
- High BMI acts as a protective factor against breast cancer in females aged 20 to under 50 years, a phenomenon potentially explained by the 'obesity paradox'.Good
Related findings · Mixed
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