EFN

According to a new study, putting on weight into middle age cuts the chance of living a long and healthy life by approximately 80%.

The research, published in the British Medical Journal says women who are obese in their middle ages reduce their odds of living a long healthy life by 79 percent, compared to leaner women.

This research followed 121,700 nurses since 1976, carrying out regular and comprehensive assessments of them. All the participants lived at least until the age of 70 and were free from major chronic diseases at mid-life (their mean age was 50 in 1976, the baseline date of the study). They continued to give information on physical function, chronic diseases, cognitive function, and mental health as they approached 70 and over.

Of the women who lived until at least age 70, 1,686 (9.9 percent) met the criteria for healthy survival. Increased body mass index (BMI) at baseline was significantly associated with reduced odds of healthy survival. Compared with lean women (BMI of 18.5 to 22.9), obese women (BMI higher than 30) had 79 percent lower odds of healthy survival.

“Given that more and more Americans are surviving to older ages and, at the same time, gaining weight, our results might be particularly important with respect to clinical or public health policies and deserve further investigation and confirmation in additional studies,” the researchers wrote in the British Medical Journal.