nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

So what's worse: being a smoker or being overweight/obese?

ninerbuff

An interesting debate two members of my gym. One who doesn't smoke and is very overweight and who smokes before and after the gym, but is pretty lean and fit (even though he smokes). The smoker claimed that he would likely out live the non smoker. So I had to see where this went. The smoker claimed that if you went to Europe, where public smoking in bars and restaurants are still prevalent, you can see many people in the normal weight range and that the death from lung cancer is LOWER than that of the US.
The non smoker debated that smoking would be the smokers demise and that he's not doing himself any favors working out and smoking because they counter act each other.
So out of curiosity I looked up some stats and here is what I found:

http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/lung-cancers/by-country

The US was at number 12 overall and at 35.04%. That out of 172 countries on the list with the majority of them "smoking" countries!

So then I had to think myself of a population of people in US who aren't obese who smoke regularly and don't have high death rates from lung cancer ...............US penitentiaries came to mind. Death rates are higher from old age and other illnesses than lung cancer.

So is weight risk higher than smoking risk when it actually comes to mortality rates?

Not condoning people to smoke, but this is good discussion about how IMO weight is a much bigger factor since smoking's usually bad outcome is lung cancer. Being overweight/obese can lead to many types of health issues along with cancer.

Discuss

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Replies

Need2Exerc1se

indigoblue9572 wrote: »

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

indigoblue9572 wrote: »

I don't think either are good, but I have family members who have beat the odds. Husband's grandmother is bone thin and has smoked a pack a day every day for over 70 yrs. She's now 90 and her dr says other than her mild emphysema, she's healthy as can be. My grandmother lived to be 97. She was from the south, cooked with lard, was obese her entire life and still made it to almost 100 yrs old.

The bolded seems an odd statement. Other than your chronic progressive lung disease, you are quite healthy??

Yes, she is quite healthy. She has a chronic, progressive lung disease but she's also NINETY years old and has nothing else wrong with her. She doesn't cough, doesn't have the "smoker's voice" and still smokes a pack a day. I'm not advocating that type of lifestyle, trust me, I HATE cigarette smoke and how inconsiderate some smokers can be, but well, she's 90 yrs old and her emphysema is mild and doesn't cause her much trouble at all.

Healthy with chronic lung disease is an oxymoron.

saralukies

I haven't read all the responses here, but smoking does not only cause lung cancer and that's it. My father, who was a lifelong smoker and not overweight a day in his life, died at 50 of a heart attack. His final cigarette killed him, because it constricted blood vessels when the plaque caused the blockage. So saying "obesity causes this, smoking causes that" is very restrictive. There are many other factors.

tardis358

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/10033/20140711/warning-obesity-is-more-dangerous-than-smoking-cuts-life-span-by-14-years.htm No direct citation but it makes sense because as bad as smoking is, its effects are relatively concentrated on one system of the body. As another commenter pointed out, there can be related complications, but it's not like obesity where every part of your body is negatively affected by it. If you're in good shape and otherwise healthy, your body is in a better condition to fight something that harms it. If you're obese, your body is busy fighting itself.

arminredfern1984

To put it simple without writing 6 paragraphs. It depends on genetics and family history.

Person 1 - COPD, smoker etc
Person 2 - OBESE , overweight

Objective - Run a mile.

*No Time Limit
*First to finish wins

Windrunner666

There is an answer..The obese guy is in the gym loosing the weight. Will the lean smoker guy loose the cigars?

PhilP0wer

I'll second the family history observation. I have asthma so for me smoking was definitely worse than being overweight. On the occasions that I fell off the wagon it would take a full 1:30 off my miles times during my morning jogs. Being overweight never bugged me at all (at least physically - mentally I hated looking in the mirror)

FatPorkyChop

Ok I believe that being overweight is better than smoking and here is why (based on my experience and my experience only - no science behind that) :
Because it was "easier" to loose all my weight than it was to stop smoking. It took me obviously way longer to loose the extra weight (9 months) but it was easier to eat healthier and start training again (just a better organization and the more you do it, the more motivated you are). Smoking was a different story, I went cold turkey but it was eating me up for a while (crazy mood, crazy cravings, crazy crazy - training pretty much saved me), I always visualize smoking as a monster inside me... now it's hidding. 7 years later, I don't care anymore, never think about it and I can be around smokers without a problem, I love being a non smoker BUT I know that I can never smoke one again otherwise it will eat me up again (and I cannot as I started to have some serious health issues because of my smoking - without being overweight then). So ultimately they are both terrible but I found it less bad to be overweight.