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UPI
3 hours ago
- Health
- UPI
Study: Weight loss in middle age might add years to your life
Losing just 6.5% of body weight in midlife may lower later risk of disease and premature death, new research shows. Photo by Adobe Stock/HealthDay News Losing just 6.5% of body weight in midlife may lower later risk of disease and premature death, new research shows. Researchers found that people who lost about 6.5% of their body weight -- without using weight loss drugs or surgery -- reaped big health benefits later in life, CNN reported. For someone who weighs 180 pounds, that's just shy of a 12-pound weight loss. "Although correcting midlife overweight without surgical or pharmacological treatment is challenging, our results suggest that it is feasible and may be associated with decreased long-term risk of cardiovascular diseases, other chronic conditions, and mortality outcomes associated with overweight," the study, led by Dr. Timo Strandberg, a professor of geriatric medicine at the University of Helsinki in Finland, concluded. Published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open, it looked at data from nearly 23,000 adults across three time periods, going back to the 1960s. Researchers grouped folks based on their body mass index (BMI) at the start and whether they gained, lost or maintained weight. (BMI is an estimate of body fat based on height and weight.) Then, they checked hospital and death records. People who lost weight were less likely to suffer from heart attacks, strokes, cancer, asthma and lung diseases like COPD, the study found. They were also less likely to die from any cause over the next 35 years. It's worth noting that this weight loss happened before popular weight loss medications and surgeries were available. That means most of the health improvements likely came from diet and exercise changes. "The study is important because it provides evidence of the relationship between weight loss and both cardiovascular disease and mortality, which hasn't been studied enough," Dr. Aayush Visari, a clinical researcher at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey, told CNN. But both Visaria and Strandberg noted that BMI, used in the study to track people's weight, is an imperfect measure. BMI doesn't show where fat is stored or how much muscle someone has, which can affect health risks. Other research has shown that belly fat and fat around organs may matter more than overall weight. "There's so many variables that might play into how someone's body composition changes, even though maybe their weight might not change as much," Visaria said. While this study couldn't prove that weight loss alone caused the health benefits, the lifestyle changes that led to it -- like healthier eating and more exercise -- also likely played a big role. Experts recommend aiming for 150 minutes of moderate exercise (like walking or biking) each week, plus two days of muscle-strengthening activities. Eating a Mediterranean-style diet rich in fruits, veggies, nuts and olive oil can also help, CNN reported. Lifestyle is always important when it comes to good health, meaning that you should strive to eat nutritious foods and be active even if you are using weight loss medications, Visaria added. Strandberg said society also needs to make it easier for people to access healthy food and places to be active. More information The Mayo Clinic has more on the benefits of regular physical activity. Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
CNN
a day ago
- Health
- CNN
Losing weight in middle age could reduce chronic diseases later, study shows
Sign up for CNN's Fitness, But Better newsletter series. Our seven-part guide will help you ease into a healthy routine, backed by experts. All the work that goes into losing weight in middle age could set you up for a longer, healthier life later, according to a new study. A sustained weight loss of about 6.5% of body weight without medications or surgery in middle-aged people is linked to substantial long-term health benefits, said lead study author Dr. Timo Strandberg, professor of geriatric medicine at the University of Helsinki in Finland. Those benefits included a reduction of risk for both chronic diseases and death from all causes. The study, published Tuesday in the journal JAMA Network Open, analyzed data of about 23,000 people from three different groups across different time periods: one group from 1985 to 1988, another from 1964 to 1973, and a third between 2000 and 2013. Researchers grouped the people in the studies based on their starting body mass index (BMI) and whether they gained, lost or maintained weight and compared the patterns with hospitalizations and death records. People who lost weight in midlife were less likely to experience heart attacks, strokes, cancer, asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in their older years, according to the study. Those who lost weight were also less likely to have died of any cause over the next 35 years, the study found. It's important to note that much of the data was collected before weight loss medications or surgeries were widely available, meaning that the benefits largely came from body changes driven by alterations in diet and exercise, Strandberg said. The study is important because it provides evidence of the relationship between weight loss and both cardiovascular disease and mortality, which hasn't been studied enough, said Dr. Aayush Visaria, a clinical researcher and incoming instructor of medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey. He was not involved in the research. Although the study is strong in that it utilizes a large sample, there are some limitations when applying the results, Visaria said. The study was conducted on White Europeans, meaning that it's difficult to generalize the results to different populations, Strandberg said. 'BMI is very different across different racial ethnic groups,' Visaria said. And BMI, which looks at weight in proportion to height, isn't always the most accurate way to gauge body composition, he added. BMI is still used widely because it is easy to calculate, but it doesn't differentiate based on a person's proportion of bone or muscle, Visaria said. 'There's so many variables that might play into how someone's body composition changes, even though maybe their weight might not change as much,' Visaria said. Other studies suggest that the fat distribution makes a big difference –– the fat around a person's organs may be what really drives a lot of disease risk, he said. Lifestyle changes –– such as a healthy diet and more exercise –– were important factors in the risk reduction. The study was observational, meaning that the data can show a relationship between weight loss and a reduction in chronic disease and mortality risk, but researchers can't say for sure that the weight loss was the factor that lowered the risk, Visaria said. Although the researchers adjusted for other factors that could influence the risk, such as age, they did not adjust for lifestyle behaviors such as diet and physical activity, he added. Those changes could be behind the lowered risk of chronic diseases just as the weight loss itself could be, Visaria said. Both weight loss and the behavioral changes behind it are often tied together in improving health, Strandberg noted. Weight loss relieves conditions such as osteoarthritis, obstructive sleep apnea and fatty liver, while changes to diet and exercise have been shown to decrease cardiovascular risks, he added. Lifestyle is always important when it comes to good health, meaning that you should continue to strive for a healthy diet and good physical activity –– even if you are using weight loss medications, Visaria said. The Mediterranean diet –– which prioritizes fruits, vegetables, grains, olive oil, and nuts and seeds –– has consistently been ranked the best diet for wellness and disease prevention. Studies suggest this way of eating may improve bone density in older years, prevent some cancers and lower risk of heart disease. For physical activity, the World Health Organization recommends that adults engage in at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, along with muscle-strengthening activities at least twice a week. However, obesity is not just a problem individuals need to tackle –– it is a structural issue as well, Strandberg said. Healthy foods and opportunities for physical activity need to be more accessible in modern societies to help curb the health impacts associated with obesity, he added.
CNN
a day ago
- Health
- CNN
Losing weight in middle age could reduce chronic diseases later, study shows
Sign up for CNN's Fitness, But Better newsletter series. Our seven-part guide will help you ease into a healthy routine, backed by experts. All the work that goes into losing weight in middle age could set you up for a longer, healthier life later, according to a new study. A sustained weight loss of about 6.5% of body weight without medications or surgery in middle-aged people is linked to substantial long-term health benefits, said lead study author Dr. Timo Strandberg, professor of geriatric medicine at the University of Helsinki in Finland. Those benefits included a reduction of risk for both chronic diseases and death from all causes. The study, published Tuesday in the journal JAMA Network Open, analyzed data of about 23,000 people from three different groups across different time periods: one group from 1985 to 1988, another from 1964 to 1973, and a third between 2000 and 2013. Researchers grouped the people in the studies based on their starting body mass index (BMI) and whether they gained, lost or maintained weight and compared the patterns with hospitalizations and death records. People who lost weight in midlife were less likely to experience heart attacks, strokes, cancer, asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in their older years, according to the study. Those who lost weight were also less likely to have died of any cause over the next 35 years, the study found. It's important to note that much of the data was collected before weight loss medications or surgeries were widely available, meaning that the benefits largely came from body changes driven by alterations in diet and exercise, Strandberg said. The study is important because it provides evidence of the relationship between weight loss and both cardiovascular disease and mortality, which hasn't been studied enough, said Dr. Aayush Visaria, a clinical researcher and incoming instructor of medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey. He was not involved in the research. Although the study is strong in that it utilizes a large sample, there are some limitations when applying the results, Visaria said. The study was conducted on White Europeans, meaning that it's difficult to generalize the results to different populations, Strandberg said. 'BMI is very different across different racial ethnic groups,' Visaria said. And BMI, which looks at weight in proportion to height, isn't always the most accurate way to gauge body composition, he added. BMI is still used widely because it is easy to calculate, but it doesn't differentiate based on a person's proportion of bone or muscle, Visaria said. 'There's so many variables that might play into how someone's body composition changes, even though maybe their weight might not change as much,' Visaria said. Other studies suggest that the fat distribution makes a big difference –– the fat around a person's organs may be what really drives a lot of disease risk, he said. Lifestyle changes –– such as a healthy diet and more exercise –– were important factors in the risk reduction. The study was observational, meaning that the data can show a relationship between weight loss and a reduction in chronic disease and mortality risk, but researchers can't say for sure that the weight loss was the factor that lowered the risk, Visaria said. Although the researchers adjusted for other factors that could influence the risk, such as age, they did not adjust for lifestyle behaviors such as diet and physical activity, he added. Those changes could be behind the lowered risk of chronic diseases just as the weight loss itself could be, Visaria said. Both weight loss and the behavioral changes behind it are often tied together in improving health, Strandberg noted. Weight loss relieves conditions such as osteoarthritis, obstructive sleep apnea and fatty liver, while changes to diet and exercise have been shown to decrease cardiovascular risks, he added. Lifestyle is always important when it comes to good health, meaning that you should continue to strive for a healthy diet and good physical activity –– even if you are using weight loss medications, Visaria said. The Mediterranean diet –– which prioritizes fruits, vegetables, grains, olive oil, and nuts and seeds –– has consistently been ranked the best diet for wellness and disease prevention. Studies suggest this way of eating may improve bone density in older years, prevent some cancers and lower risk of heart disease. For physical activity, the World Health Organization recommends that adults engage in at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, along with muscle-strengthening activities at least twice a week. However, obesity is not just a problem individuals need to tackle –– it is a structural issue as well, Strandberg said. Healthy foods and opportunities for physical activity need to be more accessible in modern societies to help curb the health impacts associated with obesity, he added.
Medscape
2 days ago
- Health
- Medscape
Prenatal Exposure, Maternal Factors Drive Childhood BMI
Maternal factors, including high maternal prepregnancy body mass index (BMI), high weight gain during pregnancy, and smoking, were associated with an atypically high BMI trajectory in children, based on data from nearly 9500 children. Childhood obesity remains a major risk factor for chronic health complications throughout life, and identifying modifiable early-life factors may help guide interventions and prevention, wrote Chang Liu, PhD, a psychologist at Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, and colleagues. 'This study allowed us to identify children following unhealthy growth trajectories as early as age 3.5 years and identify the point where BMI starts to show rapid changes such as adiposity rebound, creating crucial opportunities for intervention before obesity becomes established,' Liu said in an interview. In a study published in JAMA Network Open , the researchers analyzed data from the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) cohort from January 1997 to June 2024. The final study population included 9483 children (approximately half were boys) from 23 longitudinal pediatric cohorts in the United States and Puerto Rico born between 1997 and 2019. The primary outcome was childhood BMI. The researchers categorized the children into two BMI trajectories, typical and atypical, using a novel model based on BMI shifts over time. Children with a typical trajectory (8477 children; 89.4%) showed linear BMI decreases to 6 years of age, followed by linear increases from age 6 to 9 years. Children with an atypical trajectory (10 children; 6%) showed early stable BMI from age 1 to 3.5 years, followed by rapid linear increases from 3.5 to 9 years. The researchers assessed prenatal exposures to smoking, alcohol, and stress (depression or anxiety) as well as maternal characteristics of prepregnancy BMI, gestational weight gain, and child characteristics of preterm birth, birth weight, and breastfeeding. The analysis used a multiphase latent growth mixture model to identify qualitative shifts in BMI during childhood that have not been addressed in previous studies, the researchers noted. At 9 years of age, the atypical group had a mean BMI of 26.2, higher than the 99th percentile. Prenatal smoking, high prepregnancy BMI, high gestational weight gain, and high birth weight were significantly associated with the atypical trajectory. The findings were limited by several factors, including the clinical utility of the researchers' multiphase model, which the researchers described as 'more computationally intensive than traditional methods of identifying abnormal childhood growth patterns.' Other limitations included the use of BMI values that may show variations in levels of adiposity based on age and sex, the lack of control for some social determinants of health, and incomplete data on BMI during school age and some perinatal exposures, the researchers wrote. Implications and Research Gaps Despite these limitations, the study identified factors that increase the risk for childhood obesity, and addressing these factors could help redirect unhealthy BMI trajectories, the researchers concluded. 'Without intervention, children exhibiting high BMI trajectories during childhood are more likely to develop overweight or obesity as adolescents and adults and are at higher risk for a range of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases throughout their lifetimes,' Liu told Medscape Medical News . Although examination of developmental pathways that lead to unhealthy vs healthy BMIs is crucial to identify modifiable early life factors, 'the challenge has been that most previous research couldn't pinpoint exactly when children's growth patterns start going off track,' Liu said. Opportunities for clinicians include helping women of reproductive age achieve healthy weight and smoking cessation before pregnancy, supporting appropriate gestational weight gain during pregnancy, and closely monitoring children who show early signs of non-declining BMI patterns, especially those with identified risk factors, Liu said. Further studies are needed to examine the biological mechanisms linking these early-life factors to different childhood BMI trajectories, Liu told Medscape Medical News . 'Additionally, research is needed to understand how social and environmental factors contribute to the racial and ethnic disparities we observed in growth patterns,' she said. 'Future work should test whether interventions targeting these modifiable factors during critical developmental periods can successfully help children maintain healthier growth trajectories,' Liu added. Expanding Awareness of Obesity Risk Early identification of risk for pediatric obesity can be crucial to minimizing disease morbidity and mortality, said Charles Hannum, MD, a general pediatrician at Tufts Medical Center, Boston, in an interview. The current study not only confirms previously known risks but also adds new information to help pediatricians identify young children who would benefit from a more nuanced approach to growth monitoring and who may also benefit from a more robust prevention strategy for obesity, he said. The data also show how maternal factors and the pregnancy environment influence child health, said Hannum. 'Lastly, this study is from a large, diverse population group, making the study conclusions more generalizable to the population of the United States,' he said. Although some of the study findings were known, such as the association between childhood obesity and prenatal smoking, the current study adds the dimension of how that risk connects to the child's growth trend over time, said Hannum. 'The growth trend is often how pediatricians monitor this risk anecdotally,' he said. The associations between BMI trajectory and modifiable risks are not unexpected, but they help support the assumptions clinicians often make about obesity risk and can inform more focused and individually tailored prevention strategies, he noted. The data can help support both public health initiatives and clinical practice at the individual level, Hannum told Medscape Medical News . For pediatricians, the findings support starting obesity prevention strategies early and monitoring children who have an at-risk BMI trajectory more frequently, he noted. When children do not follow a trajectory of decreased BMI from early to late toddlerhood, even if a BMI is normal, 'we now have evidence that they have an increased risk for developing obesity, and this knowledge may help to prevent some cases of pediatric obesity,' Hannum said. Add More Variables in Further Research The current study's limitations include missing and incomplete data and possible challenges when applying the trajectories to broad, diverse populations, given the complex contributors to pediatric obesity, Hannum told Medscape Medical News . More clarity is also needed on when and how to prioritize prevention strategies in the setting of additional obesity risk factors, Hannum added.
UPI
6 days ago
- Health
- UPI
Sugar, fat, salt on rise in U.S. breakfast cereals, study shows
Breakfast cereals in the United States now contain more sugar, fat and salt, while key nutrients like protein and fiber are on the decline, according to research published Wednesday in JAMA Network Open. File photo by Miguel Gutierrez/EPA-EFE May 22 (UPI) -- They're a go-to breakfast for millions of kids and adults. They're brightly colored, packed in enticing boxes and often marketed as healthy -- but many cereals today are actually less nutritious than they were a decade ago, a new study has found. Breakfast cereals in the United States. now contain more sugar, fat and salt, while key nutrients like protein and fiber are on the decline, according to research published Wednesday in JAMA Network Open. The study looked at 1,200 newly launched or reformulated cereals sold between 2010 and 2023. Researchers found that while these cereals are often promoted as healthy, their nutrition labels tell a different story. "What's most surprising to me is that the healthy claims made on the front of these products and the nutritional facts on the back are actually going in the opposite direction," study co-author Shuoli Zhao, a professor of agricultural economics at the University of Kentucky, told The New York Times. The study found that, per serving, total fat in breakfast cereals rose by 34%, sodium by 32%, and sugar by nearly 11% over the 13-year period. This trend concerns experts because ready-to-eat cereals are a major part of the American diet, especially for kiddos, The Times reported. Nearly one-third of children eat cereal each morning, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But only 15% eat fruit with their meal, and just 10% of kids eat eggs. Dr. Peter Lurie, head of the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, called the results surprising. "It's extraordinary that, at a time when Americans are becoming more health conscious, a product often marketed as offering a healthy start to one's day is actually getting less healthy," Lurie told The Times. Some nutrition experts say the food industry creates confusion. "It reinforces my belief that the food marketplace is very confusing, and that's not by accident," said Josephine Connolly-Schoonen, head of the nutrition division at Stony Brook Medicine in New York, who was not involved with the study. "The food industry engineers the confusion." She encourages families to focus on whole foods like overnight oats, eggs, fruit and whole-grain bread. The three largest cereal makers in the United States -- Kellogg's, General Mills and Post -- did not respond to The Times' requests for comment. U.S. cereal makers do produce healthier versions of some brands in countries like Canada and in Europe. Meanwhile, cereals served in U.S. schools have become more nutritious thanks to a 2010 federal law. New rules limiting sugar in school cereals take effect this summer, with even stricter rules coming in 2027, the School Nutrition Association says. Diane Pratt-Heavner, a spokesperson for the group, said she hopes food makers will offer these healthier products to the general American public. "If we're encouraging kids to eat healthier at school," she said, "then we want them to be eating healthier at home too." More information KidsHealth has a list of breakfast ideas for kids. Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
