Excess Weight in Middle
Age Tied to Poor Health Later

People who are overweight in middle age are more likely than their normal-weight peers to have a poor quality of life as they grow old, new study findings suggest.

The study of nearly 6,800 men and women found that those who carried excess pounds in middle age were more likely to report problems with physical, emotional and social well-being 26 years later.

The study group consisted of adults who were middle-aged in the late 1960s to early 1970s. Since the number of Americans who are overweight or obese has skyrocketed since then, the findings do not bode well for the future, the study's lead author, Dr. Martha L. Daviglus, told Reuters Health.

They also indicate that young and middle-aged people who are overweight need to act now to preserve a good quality of life as they age, according to Daviglus. And that means calorie cutting and regular exercise, she said.

Daviglus and her colleagues at Northwestern University in Chicago report the findings in the November 10th issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The researchers looked at data from a study on heart health begun in 1967. They used participants' height and weight measurements taken at the study's start to break them into groups based on body mass index (BMI). The researchers then analyzed participants' responses to a health survey sent out in the 1990s in relation to their middle-age BMI.

They found that for both men and women, those who were average weight in middle age were more likely to say they were in "excellent" or "very good" health years later. For example, 47 percent of normal-weight women rated their health as excellent or very goody, compared with 38 percent of overweight women and 24 percent of obese women.

Overall, participants who were overweight in middle age were more likely to report problems with physical activities like walking or climbing stairs. Excess weight showed the strongest relationship to physical health, but overweight individuals also tended to score lower on measures of emotional well-being and social functioning.

Daviglus said the public health implications of the findings are great not only because of Americans' expanding waistlines, but also because as life expectancy continues to grow, people will want a high quality of life during those years.

She also noted that the messages the public has been hearing about weight loss seem to have lacked clarity. The U.S. is a nation of the dietary-fat-conscious, but not the sugar-conscious, Daviglus said.

"Calories are calories," she said, and people need to cut down on them to lose weight.

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, November 10, 2003.

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