Beat the bulge to halve the risk of early death
SHEDDING your middle-age spread can more than halve the risk of a premature death.
A study of older people found that those who went from being obese to overweight were 54 per cent less likely to die over the next decade.
Almost one in six early deaths may be caused by middle-age spread, warn the US team.
An expanding waistline can lead to cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and even dementia.
Vulnerable
Corresponding author Dr Andrew Stokes said: “The findings suggest population-based approaches to preventing weight gain and treating obesity early in life may have important mortality reduction benefits.”
TV ads are currently encouraging Britons to lose weight as part of the Government’s obesity strategy.
Dr Stokes’s team tracked more than 24,000 American men and women aged 40 to 74 for an average of over 10 years, during which time almost a quarter died. Their BMI (body mass index) was measured.The participants were also asked to recall their weight at 25 (early adulthood) and 10 years before joining the study.
Dr Stokes, an expert in global health at Boston University, Massachusetts, said: “Weight loss from obese to overweight in individuals between early and middle adulthood was associated with more than a 50 per cent reduction in mortality risk. This was compared to those who “remained obese throughout the period.” The study, published in JAMA Network Open, revealed significant links between changes in BMI across the life course and deaths from all diseases.
Individuals who remained obese were most vulnerable, followed by those who lost or gained weight.
Lowest death rates were among individuals whose BMI stayed within the normal range.
Dr Stokes said: “Overall, an estimated 12.4 per cent of early deaths could be avoided by preventing gain from normal weight at any point between early and mid-adulthood.”
What is more, they could be reduced by a further 3.2 per cent by obese individuals improving their status to overweight.
The implications are enormous. It would save the lives of nearly one in six people who die before their time.
Dr Stokes added: “These results indicate an opportunity to improve population health through enhanced targeting of evidence-based obesity treatments.
Lifestyle
“These include aggressive behavioural and lifestyle counselling to young adults with obesity.”
The UK has been dubbed the “fat man of Europe” with most adults overweight or obese – two in three men and six in 10 women.
An app for the free 12-week NHS Weight Loss Plan, helping people make healthier food choices and skills to prevent weight gain, has been launched. A person’s BMI is calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared.