BMJ-British Medical Journal
Obesity in middle-aged women cuts chance of a long and healthy life by
almost 80 percent
The more weight women gain from the age of 18 until middle age, the less
likely they are to enjoy a long and healthy life, according to new
research published on bmj.com today.
Compared with lean women, the results show that being obese in middle
age reduces those odds by 79%, underscoring the importance of
maintaining a healthy weight from early adulthood, say the authors.
Healthy survival referred to participants who survived to age 70 years
or older, were free of major chronic diseases, and had good cognitive,
physical and mental health. Usual survival referred to participants who
survived to age 70 years or older but did not meet these criteria.
The worst odds of healthy survival were found among women who were
overweight at 18 and gained 10kg or more by middle age.
But even among women who were lean at 18, relative to those who kept a
stable weight, women who gained more than 10kg by middle age were 59%
less likely to achieve healthy survival.
"Given that more and more Americans are surviving to older ages and, at
the same time, gaining weight, our results may be particularly important
with respect to clinical or public health policies and deserve further
investigation and confirmation in additional studies," they conclude.
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