BOSTON—Women who gained weight during midlife had a lower chance of “healthy survival” at age 70 in a new study from the Harvard School of Public Health (BMJ 2009;339:b3796). The researchers considered healthy survival as having no history of 11 major chronic diseases and having no substantial cognitive, physical or mental limitations.
Researchers examined 17,065 women who survived until at least the age of 70, and their occurrences of chronic diseases, cognitive function, physical function and mental health. All of the women in the study were free from major chronic diseases at mid-life (mean age was 50 at baseline in 1976).
Of the women who survived 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 higer than 30) had 79 percent lower odds of healthy survival. In addition, the more weight gained from age 18 until midlife, the less likely the women were to reach healthy survival after age 70. The lowest odds of healthy survival were among women who were overweight ( BMI greater than 25) at age 18 and gained more than 10 kg.