In a new study from Duke-NUS Medical School, researchers found middle-aged and elderly adults who gain or lose a moderate to a large amount of weight—defined as a 10% change in weight—may have an increased risk of death, particularly from heart disease.
Between them, weight loss was linked to a higher risk than weight gain.
Furthermore, excessive weight loss increases risk among participants who were overweight or obese to start with, and excessive weight gain might increase the risk even among participants with low or normal body mass index at baseline.
In the study, the team used data from 36,338 middle-aged and elderly Chinese Singaporeans who reported weight and height during interviews at both recruitment (1993-1998) and follow-up (1999-2004) surveys, and who had no history of cancer or heart disease.
The researchers grouped weight loss into several categories: moderate-to-large weight loss (≥10%), small weight loss (5.1-9.9%), stable weight (±5%), small weight gain (5.1-9.9%), and moderate-to-large weight gain (≥10%).
The findings suggest that moderate-to-large weight change in mid-life and older age should be monitored closely by health practitioners, and weight loss, especially, should be considered critically in elderly individuals.
Weight loss may be related to loss of muscle mass, frailty, and poor control of chronic diseases.
The team says it is prudent to maintain stability in body weight within the non-obese range for middle-aged and elderly populations to reduce the risk of mortality.
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The study is published in the International Journal of Obesity. One author of the study is Koh Woon Puay.
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