Fat Hurts: Overweight People Feel 20 Percent More Pain

How much more does it hurt to be fat? Twenty percent, according to researchers at Stony Brook University. And that’s just if you’re overweight. Obese people hurt even more: 68 percent more for Obese 1 group, 136 percent more for Obese 2 group, and 254 percent more for Obese 3 group, as defined by the World Health Organization. A Stony Brook news release reports that when researchers at the school analyzed data about body mass index and the experience of pain from 1,010,762 people, they found a clear association between obesity and pain – with higher rates of pain identified in the heaviest individuals. “Even when we controlled for these specific diseases,” said researcher Joan Broderick, “the weight-pain relationship held up. This finding suggests that obesity alone may cause pain, aside from the presence of painful diseases.” Read more from Stony Brook University.