The number of years that person lives while being obese can directly correspond with their risk for death, according to researchers at Monash University.

Scientists discovered that duration of obesity is a stronger predictor of mortality than body mass index. These days, where more adults are becoming overweight or obese earlier in life, the risk of death from the ailment is expected to increase compared to previous decades.

To come to their conclusions, researchers used data from the Framingham Heart Study to follow up with 5,209 subjects for 48 years. The results showed that those who had lived with obesity for a medium number of years - between 5 and 14.9 years - had double the risk of dying than those who had never been obese. Those who had lived with the weight for more than 15 years had triple the risk, according to researchers.

Moreover, the study, published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, found that for every two years a person lived with obesity, the risk of death increased by six to seven percent.

Obesity can result in a number of ailments that can increase health insurance rates. The Mayo Clinic reports that being extremely overweight can result in sometimes illnesses such as heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers.