Weight loss at any age
in adulthood is worthwhile because it could yield long-term heart and vascular
benefits, suggests new research published in The
Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.
The findings are from a
study examining the impact of lifelong patterns of weight change on
cardiovascular risk factors in a group of British men and women followed since
birth in March 1946. They showed that the longer the exposure to excess body
fat (adiposity) in adulthood the greater the cardiovascular-related problems in
later life, including increased thickness of the carotid artery walls, raised
systolic blood pressure, and increased risk of diabetes.
For the first time, the
findings also indicate that adults who drop a BMI category -- from obese to
overweight, or from overweight to normal -- at any time during adult life, even
if they regain weight, can reduce these cardiovascular manifestations.
According to lead
author Professor John Deanfield from University College London (UCL) in the UK,
"Our study is unique because it followed individuals for such a long time,
more than 60 years, and allowed us to assess the effect of modest, real-life
changes in adiposity. Our findings suggest that losing weight at any age can
result in long-term cardiovascular health benefits, and support public health
strategies and lifestyle modifications that help individuals who are overweight
or obese to lose weight at all ages."
Commenting on the
study, Elizabeth Cespedes and Frank Hu from the Harvard School of Public
Health, Boston, USA, write:
"Although it is encouraging that even transitory weight loss during adulthood has cardiovascular benefits, only 2% of participants in the present study had a sustained reduction in BMI category in adulthood, underscoring the importance of weight maintenance and prevention of weight gain as priorities for public health programming and policy. Improvements in diet and increases in physical activity are crucial levers of long-term weight maintenance and prevention of weight gain in middle-age and early adulthood. Overweight individuals might have even greater health benefit from lifestyle changes such as increased physical activity than do normal weight individuals. The results of this study affirm a continued emphasis on public health policies that enable lifestyle changes to achieve and, especially, to maintain a healthy BMI."
They add that,
"Ideally, future research will address long-term patterns of intentional
versus unintentional weight loss, the means to achieve weight loss, and the
weight loss maintenance necessary to reduce cardiovascular endpoints."
Story Source:
The above story is
based on materials provided by The Lancet. Note: Materials may be edited for
content and length.
Journal
Reference:
1. Marietta Charakida, Tauseef Khan, William Johnson, Nick Finer,
John Woodside, Peter H Whincup, Naveed Sattar, Diana Kuh, Rebecca Hardy, John
Deanfield.Lifelong patterns of BMI and cardiovascular phenotype in
individuals aged 60–64 years in the 1946 British birth cohort study: an
epidemiological study.The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology,
2014; DOI: 10.1016/S2213-8587(14)70103-2
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The Lancet. "Adults
who lose weight at any age could enjoy improved cardiovascular health." Science
Daily, 20 May 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140520184801.htm>.