Middle Age Weight Crisis
A new study concludes that it is important to lose weight, and keep it off into middle age, especially as a preventative measure to heart disease. The study is very extensive, tracking around 19,000 men starting at age 18, for almost half a century. The data was compiled between 1916 and 1950, whereby the height and weight measurements of participants were taken. Then, in the 1960s, researchers followed up with the study participants; the men were 46 years on average. The follow up included information on changes the men had made to their activity levels and lifestyle. Of those men, eleven percent died from heart disease, and being heavy at both the early and mid-life health check put them at risk of ultimately dying from heart disease. In fact, obese young men have almost double the risk of developing heart disease. Middle aged overweight men were 25 percent more likely to die of heart disease and 60 percent of those were obese. On the other hand, as I-Min Lee from the Harvard Medical School told Reuters health, younger obese people can lower their weight by slimming down - “if you’re able to lose that weight, once you get to middle age….the excess risk you had as a youngster goes away.” Being overweight at middle age is the most dangerous for your heart health, not the number of years one is actually overweight.
There are some problems with this study. First off, women are not included in the study, so it is unclear if being obese in youth does have a negative effect on a woman’s health later on. Secondly, the study did not indicate where fat was distributed around the body, as it is known that fat distributed around the mid section puts you more at risk of cancer.
In conjunction with this study is another study conducted on college students, which states that “the transition from late adolescence to early adulthood represents the most dramatic declines in physical activity across a person’s life.” Further, while binge drinking and smoking begin to decrease in the mid twenties, the activity levels of a person continue to decline into their mid twenties. While exercise campaigns focus on getting adults and children active, they often forget about the college aged level persons. Young adults occupy their time with their studies and socializing as opposed to going to the gym to work out.
With this in mind, here are some ways to increase activity in young adults, to either lose weight or keep the weight off:
- Join an intramurals team at university.
- When looking for a university, make sure your prospective school has an adequate work out facility.
- Walk or take public transportation instead of driving.
- Watch your nutrition – young adults no longer have mom there to cook the meals, and often go for ‘quick’ fixes, such as pizza at the school cafeteria. Make cooking nutritious meals a priority.
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