Bigger early, worse off later

HHS HealthBeat (June 22, 2009)
Bigger early, worse off later

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

People who are overweight when they are young adults may be less able to get around when they get old.

Researchers found that in data on more than 2,800 people who averaged 74 years old. The people were asked to recall their weight at ages 25 and 50. The researchers then looked to see if the people had mobility limitations – difficulty in walking up 10 steps or a quarter of a mile.

At Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Denise Houston:

[Denise Houston speaks] "Compared to people who were normal weight at each of the ages we looked at – 25, 50 and 70 to 79 – being obese carried the highest risk of mobility limitation."

But being overweight also had a higher risk.

The study in the American Journal of Epidemiology was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.
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Last revised: June, 22 2009

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Bigger early, worse off later