Being overweight increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. Now there’s research showing that there are social and economic consequences to being overweight since high school. Researchers tracked 5,000 high school graduates for 20 years, comparing those at normal weight at graduation to those overweight. At age 40 participants persistently overweight were less likely to have furthered their education and more likely to be unemployed or on welfare and to be single. Researchers hypothesize the discrimination experienced in childhood diminishes self-respect and ambition. Those overweight since age19 are likely to have only a “fat chance” at success.

Then there was the Danish study that found early obesity has later risks. Researchers went through military health records going back to 1943 to find 2,000 obese soldiers, as well as 4,000 randomly selected ones. Surveying them at ages 35 and 46 showed that a man who was obese at 20 was twice as likely to die prematurely and this higher risk of death lasted up to 60 years. Unfortunately, although 4% of the non-obese soldiers became obese later, 75% of the obese 20-year-olds were still obese at subsequent exams. Some problems aren’t outgrown.

Researchers have also found a link between obesity and mental functioning. Tests evaluated 8,745 post-menopausal women age 65-79 for memory, abstract reasoning, writing and both temporal and spatial orientation skills. According to the results, for each point increase in the women’s Body Mass Index – a measure of obesity that compares weight to height – there was a point decrease in the mental tests. Although the results were still in the normal range, the added weight was obviously detrimental. However, the fact that this study didn’t include older men could have affected the results by “weighing heavily” on the women’s minds as being unfair.

Nevertheless, keeping a food diary helps in weight management. In a Kaiser Permanente study 348 volunteers used the same Internet weight management program. They were encouraged to log in at least once a week to record weight, minutes of exercise and number of days they’d kept food diaries. After 2 years 65% of the participants were still using the website. Those who had logged on the most and recorded their weight at least once a month had kept their weight off. Because keeping weight off is harder than initially losing it and requires consistency and accountability, the need to log in regularly is “log-ical”.

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Category: Health/Diseases and Conditions
Keywords: overweight, obesity, weight management