Take a load off

Posted on Wed, May. 27, 2009

Matthew M. F. Miller

A new study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology finds that carrying around extra pounds early in life could lead to decreased mobility down the road – even if that weight was eventually lost.

“In both men and women, being overweight or obese put them at greater risk of developing mobility limitations in old age, and the longer they had been overweight or obese, the greater the risk,” says Denise Houston, Ph.D., an assistant professor of gerontology at the Sticht Center on Aging at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, N.C.

Researchers analyzed data collected over a seven-year period from 2,845 people (average age of 74) Medicare recipients in Pittsburgh, Pa., and Memphis, Tenn., between April 1997 and June 1998. Female participants with a body mass index (BMI) that was 25 or greater, a measurement considered overweight, between their mid-20s and their 70s were more than three times as likely to develop mobility issues versus women who were a normal weight. Overweight and obese men were about 1.6 times as likely.

“The data suggest that interventions to prevent overweight and obesity in young and middle-aged adults may be useful in preventing or delaying the onset of mobility limitations later in life, Houston says.”