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Healthy Body Weight Throughout Adulthood may Help Delay Disability |
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Maintaining a healthy body weight throughout adulthood may help prevent or delay the onset of physical disability as we age, according to researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and colleagues. The study, reported on-line by the International Journal of Obesity, found that older adults with a history of excess weight in midlife or earlier had worse physical performance than those who were normal weight throughout adulthood or became overweight in late adulthood. Using data from the Health, Aging and Body Composition (Health ABC) study, researchers examined the association between weight history and physical performance in late adulthood. Participants were eligible only if they reported no difficulty walking one-fourth of a mile, climbing 10 steps, or performing basic activities of daily living. The researchers found that men and women who were obese at ages 25 years, 50 years and between 70 and 79 years had significantly lower scores of physical performance than those who were normal weight at these ages. Houston said there are several explanations for the findings. "Over the past couple of decades there has been a trend towards declining rates of disability in older adults. However, the dramatic increase in overweight and obesity in the U.S. may reverse these declines and may lead to an increase in disability among future generations of older adults as well as contribute to an increase in disability among middle-age and younger adults," she said.
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