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Those obese at 70 have about the same number of
years left to live as non-obese seniors, but they have less
active years. |
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Being Obese Seniors Does Not Effect Longevity, Just
Years We Spend Disabled
Aug. 3, 2005 Being obese at 70 years old doesnt
have much bearing on how long men or women are going to live. But, both
obese men and women will have less active years than their non-obese
fellow senior citizens. Thats what researchers have found in studying
over 7,000 senior citizens.
This new research shows that obese adults who reach
the age of 70 are at no greater risk of dying than their non-obese
counterparts, but they do have a much greater probability of spending
their remaining years disabled.
Previous investigations had focused on the impact
of obesity on either mortality or the onset of disability, but lead
author Sandra Reynolds of the University of South Florida School of
Aging Studies sought to consider them together. She was joined on the
study by Yasuhiko Saito of Japan's Nihon University and Eileen M.
Crimmins of the Andrus Gerontology Center at the University of Southern
California, Los Angeles.
The team defined disability as having difficulty
performing one or more activities of daily living (ADLs), such as
walking across a room, bathing, eating, dressing, toileting, or
transferring in or out of bed. Those who could perform all ADLs were
considered active.
Using a sample of over 7,000 seniors, they reported
statistical information separately by gender. At 70 years old, the men
in the group could expect to live 12.3 years if they were non-obese and
12.4 if they were obese. The non-obese men could expect to live 9.8
active years and 2.5 disabled years. However, the obese men could only
expect to live 8.4 active years and 4.0 years with disability.
In the same sample, women aged 70 could expect to
live 15.3 years if they were non-obese and 15.5 years if they were
obese. These women averaged 10.5 active years and 4.8 disabled years if
they were non-obese, but the obese women only lived 8.1 active years and
7.4 disabled years.
This research supports recent assertions by the
Centers for Disease Control that prior estimates of obesity's effects on
mortality may have been over-estimated, since most studies of obesity do
not account for its lesser effects on death rates at old age.
The data supporting this is reported in the August
2005 issue of The Gerontologist (Vol. 45, No. 4). The Gerontologist is a
refereed publication of The Gerontological Society of America, the
national organization of professionals in the field of aging.
Support for the project was provided by grants from
the National Institute on Aging and the University of South Florida
Research Council.
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