Weight Gain in Early Life Increases Later Chronic Disease Risk
Moderate weight gain during early and middle adulthood is associated with significantly increased risk of major chronic diseases and mortality later in life, according to the findings of a recent study.
The researchers conducted a cohort analysis of women from the Nurses’ Health Study and men from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study who reported weight at age 18 or age 21 years in women and men, respectively, and reported current weight at age 55 years.
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At age 55 years, participants were followed to incident disease outcomes, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and death, which were confirmed with medical records or the National Death Index. A total of 92,837 women and 25,303 men were included in the analysis.
Overall, adjusted incidence per 100,000 person-years for type 2 diabetes was 207 for women who gained a moderate amount of weight vs 110 among women who maintained stable weight and 258 vs 147, respectively, for men. For hypertension, rates were 3415 vs 2754 among women and 2861 vs 2366 for men, respectively. For cardiovascular disease, rates were 309 vs 248 for women and 383 vs 340 for men, respectively. For obesity-related cancer, rates were 452 vs 415 for women and 208 vs 165 for men, respectively. The multivariable-adjusted odds ratio for the composite healthy aging outcome associated with moderate weight gain was 0.78 in women and 0.88 in men.
“In these cohorts of health professionals, weight gain during adulthood was associated with significantly increased risk of major chronic diseases and decreased odds of healthy aging. These findings may help counsel patients regarding the risks of weight gain.”
—Michael Potts
Reference:
Zheng Y, Manson JE, Yuan C, et al. Associations of weight gain from early to middle adulthood with major health outcomes later in life. JAMA. 2017;318(3):255-269.