London, March 18: Adding more to the detrimental effects of obesity, a latest study of nearly a million people shows it can shorten life expectancy by almost a decade. Being slightly overweight too can pour perils – it may take as much as three years off your life, researchers warn.

Melbourne -- An Australian fitness trainer and ex-model said he is sticking to his pledge to gain more than 100 pounds to better understand overweight clients.

Paul James, 32, who started the year at 175 pounds, said he has made it to 217 pounds with the aim of reaching 280 pounds, The Sun reported Wednesday.

James, who has been feeding his face with kebabs, pasta, cream sauces and chocolate, said he will attempt to keep his weight constant at 280 pounds until June and then attempt to lose the extra weight by early October.

"It was difficult to relate to overweight gym members so I'm experiencing life as an overweight person," James said.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International.

Auburn, N.Y. -- A New York man estimated to weigh 700 pounds was trucked from his home to court to be arraigned on drug charges.

The Cayuga County Circuit Court judge and his staff held court on a Post Office loading dock to arraign Stephon A. Turo, 56, of Genoa on 24 counts of sale and possession of prescription painkillers, The (Syracuse, N.Y.) Post-Standard reported Monday.

Turo sat on a chair connected to a portable oxygen machine and covered with a blanket in the back of a rental truck in 18-degree temperatures and swirling snow while Judge Thomas G. Leone took his innocent plea and set bail at $1,000 during a 15-minute hearing.

Turo was fingerprinted and had his "mug" shot taken by a sheriff's investigator while in the truck.