Sedentary lifestyle, changing food habits, lack of exercise, eating high calorie food and heredity have resulted in more than half the population of US and Britain to be overweight. People are very conscious of their health and their weight but the other factors may overtake these considerations and make a person overweight. After all, who can resist a lovely cupcake, or stop munching chips or swallowing sodas?

Being overweight is not just a health concern. It affects the insurance as well. Overweight causes problems for the internal organs, besides damaging them in the long run. Overweight people do not look good and many even look ugly. They also have to bear the taunts of colleagues, friends and acquaintances. When you approach an insurance company to buy insurance, you have to record all the details. You have to record your age, your weight, your BMI and other things before you sign the contract with the insurance company. They go into the minutest details. Being overweight is a health hazard. It puts the body out of it optimum working order. It is quite possible that your weight may result in your developing diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, diseases of the heart and so on and so forth.

Official statistics show that a large majority of US people tend to be obese. There is a difference between overweight and obese and you will have to find out the difference. Being clinically obese will lessen your chances of getting a proper insurance policy. There was a time when fat babies were liked by all and parents competed with each other to have fat and fatter babies. But then these babies become fat adults and then the trouble begins. Physically US people are bigger and fatter. This no longer brings smiles to people’s faces. It creates problems. It can have a negative impact on general health. It is mainly for this reason that life insurance providers demand a physical assessment so that before providing the policy they can fully assess your starting point and then calculate your potential path checking to see how your present state could affect your future. Of course being overweight does not stop anyone from getting an insurance cover but it certainly affects the cost of the premiums.

There may be certain factors linked with being overweight which will exclude you from certain levels of cover as compared to an active lifestyle that caters to those who are serious about their bodies, health and their looks. Some of the risk factors, like getting diabetes, or heart problems if you are overweight, are the reasons why the assessments are carried out. The insurance companies would like to assess your overall level of risk. An overweight person has more risk factors than a normal one. Other factors that are taken into consideration when you buy a policy is whether you are a smoker, a heavy drinker, or regularly participate in high risk activities like speed racing or dangerous sports.

When they check your BMI (Body Mass Index) they will class you. Having a BMI of 25 or more will put you into an overweight class and will most certainly cost you when it comes to the proceeds of the policy being offered to you. Overweight does not necessarily mean that you are likely to get a heart attack soon but it puts you into a high risk category. Illnesses like diabetes need long term care.

Sometimes if you are too overweight you may be refused insurance altogether.