(February 26, 2009 - Insidermedicine) Being overweight or obese in late adolescence is as hazardous to later health as being a smoker, according to research published in the British Medical Journal.

Here is some information on being overweight during adolescence:

•    Among adolescents, being overweight is generally caused by lack of physical activity and poor eating habits

•    Typically, children become less physically active when they become adolescents

•    Parents of overweight adolescents can help them by modeling healthy lifestyle choices.

Researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm collected information on weight and smoking status on over 45,000 young men whose average age was 18. The investigators followed them for 38 years.

Being overweight increased the risk of dying by about one-third. Being obese more than doubled it. Being a light smoker increased the risk by over 50%, and being a heavy smoker more than doubled it. Those who were obese and smoked heavily were nearly 5 times more likely to die prematurely, compared to normal weight non-smokers.

We had a chance to speak with Dr. Martin Neovius, the principal investigator of this study, who offered some further insight.

Today’s research demonstrates how excess weight in late adolescence can increase the risk for subsequent death as much as being a smoker.

For Insidermedicine in Depth, I'm Dr. Susan Sharma.