Can obesity be a risk factor in elderly people?
- 21 July 2003
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Wiley in Obesity Reviews
- Vol. 4 (3), 147-155
- https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1467-789x.2003.00107.x
Abstract
Obesity is increasing in middle-aged adults and in elderly subjects (over 65 years), owing to the concurrence of different factors: inactivity, wrong nutritional habits, and basal metabolism and nutritional need reduction. This condition is becoming a serious problem because of the increasing numbers of the aged population all over the world. In the past, obesity was considered as a 'secondary' pathology of no medical importance in old age; but nowadays, obesity is increasingly being studied in Geriatrics too, because it causes disability and because of its quality-of-life impairment consequences. The Euronut-Seneca study has confirmed the presence of obesity in both men and women in Europe. The definition of obesity, the reference values of body mass index and obesity as a mortality factor in elderly persons are still under discussion. Even when overweight does not represent a serious problem in old age, obese elderly people are certainly at risk of disability, morbidity and mortality. This review focuses on the potential risks of overweight and obesity in the aged population.Keywords
This publication has 76 references indexed in Scilit:
- Is Weight Loss Hazardous?Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) ,2009
- Body-Mass Index and Mortality in a Prospective Cohort of U.S. AdultsNew England Journal of Medicine, 1999
- Perfil antropométrico da população idosa brasileira. Resultados da Pesquisa Nacional sobre Saúde e NutriçãoCadernos de Saude Publica, 1999
- Influence of educational level and marital status on dietary intake, obesity and other cardiovascular risk factors in a Hong Kong Chinese populationEuropean Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1999
- Prospective Study of Intentionality of Weight Loss and Mortality in Older Women: The lowa Women's Health StudyAmerican Journal of Epidemiology, 1999
- Obesity: a time bomb to be defusedThe Lancet, 1998
- Overweight and obesity in the United States: prevalence and trends, 1960–1994International Journal of Obesity, 1997
- Leisure-time physical activity among US adults. Results from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination SurveyArchives of Internal Medicine, 1996
- Worldwide Epidemiology of ObesityPharmacoEconomics, 1994
- Effects of Physical Activity on Health Status in Older Adults I: Observational StudiesAnnual Review of Public Health, 1992