A new study found that obesity is around three times more fatal for men than for women. The study conducted on about 4 million men and women from across the world was published online on July 13 in The Lancet. However, there is no a clear link between obesity and mortality which means more research is needed.

Researchers in the study found that 19% for men and 11% for women of normal weight had risk of dying before the age of 70. This risk increased to 30% and 15% in respective genders for those who were obese. In other words, risk of dying before the age of 70 elevated by 11% for men and by 4% for women. It is also evident from the results that men are more at risk than women, but this isn’t clear why.

"Our study was not able to address this question, but previous observations have suggested that obese men have greater insulin resistance, liver fat levels and diabetes risk than women", said study co-author Dr. Emanuele Di Angelantonio, a lecturer at the University of Cambridge in England. One US expert said more research is needed to answer why there is difference in the risk between obese men and women.

Lead researcher Richard Peto, professor of medical statistics and epidemiology at the University of Oxford in England, said obesity is second only to smoking as a cause of premature death in America. He also said if a woman reduces 10% of her weight, she could reduce the risk by 10%, but if a man reduces 10% of his weight, he could reduce the risk by 20%.