Study: Excess weight can shorten life and reduce fitness in old age
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A Finnish study indicates that excess weight acquired before the age of 50 shortens life and reduces fitness in old age.
Worst off are those whose weight has risen 15 kilos or more, which is common among adults today.
The findings, published in the Finnish medical journal Lääkärilehti, are based on a follow-up study comprising men who were in leading positions in the 1960s.
They are now retired, but many of them are still healthy. Kurt Lindholm of Espoo says that at 74, he feels better than ever. He ascribes this to healthy habits going back decades.
"It is too late to start when you’re retired. Many trains have left the station by then."
At the age of 30 Lindholm had a wake-up call when a friend invited him to take part in a mass cross-country skiing event.
"After a few kilometres I thought I would die", Lindholm recalls. "I even got angina - the last time ever."
Lindholm stopped smoking, lost 20 kilos, and would jog every evening. He would even have his running suit with him on business trips.
"On a forest path my thoughts would clear up. After a shower I ate cheese, had some red wine, and slept well.
The executives in the study would gain an average ten kilos between the ages of 25 and 50. Now with old age approaching, those whose weight stayed at the same level that it was when they were 25 did the best.
Fitness suffered most, and life was shortened most significantly among those who gained 15 kilos or more. Satu Männistö of the National Public Health Institute says that this applies to 10-25% of today’s adults.
The excess weight should be shed before retirement, emphasises Professor Timo Strandberg of the University of Oulu, who is behind the executive study.
Reducing weight in old age is considered more dangerous, because the loss can be of muscles instead of fat, leading to frailty. The focus should be on increased exercise.
Lindholm says that people tend to put on weight as they grow older even if they get exercise. He noticed in the spring that he had regained nearly all of the weight that he had previously lost, and he took action, even though the doctors did not tell him to.
"I eat less and lighter, but I do not deprive myself of anything. I lost 11 kilos, and the quality of my life improved. Exercise is easier."
Lindholm emphasises that exercise alone is not a sufficient guarantee of good ageing.
"Every person should belong to something. Before mid-life it is important to think where one will belong when one is retired. You need to establish contacts in good time."
Lindholm’s calendar has had the same notations for decades: volleyball on Monday, Nordic walking on Tuesday, tennis on Thursday.
Lindholm emphasises that achieving a balance requires both good health and a healthy private life. In his retirement, Lindholm became a father for a second time.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 13.10.2006 - TODAY |
 Study: Excess weight can shorten life and reduce fitness in old age
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