Summary: Maintaining stable weight after age 60 significantly boosts women’s odds of living past 90. Researchers found women who kept a steady weight were 1.2 to 2 times more likely to reach exceptional longevity compared to those who lost 5% or more of their weight.
This contradicts general recommendations suggesting that older women should lose weight for better health. This milestone study urges healthcare providers to reconsider weight loss guidance for older women aiming for exceptional longevity.
Key Facts:
- Older women who maintained stable weight were 1.2 to 2 times more likely to live past 90.
- Those who lost 5% or more weight were 51% less likely to achieve exceptional longevity.
- The study is the first of its kind to examine weight changes in later life and its impact on exceptional longevity among women.
Source: UCSD
Reaching the age of 90, 95 or 100, known as exceptional longevity, was more likely for women who maintained their body weight after age 60, according to a multi-institutional study led by University of California San Diego.
Older women who sustained a stable weight were 1.2 to 2 times more likely to achieve longevity compared to those who experience a weigh loss of 5 percent or more.
Reporting in the Aug. 29, 2023 online issue of the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, researchers investigated the associations of weight changes later in life with exceptional longevity among 54,437 women who enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative, a prospective study investigating causes of chronic diseases among postmenopausal women.
Throughout the follow up period, 30,647, or 56 percent of the participants, survived to the age of 90 or beyond.
Women who lost at least 5 percent weight were less likely to achieve longevity compared to those who achieved stable weight. For example, women who unintentionally lost weight were 51 percent less likely to survive to the age of 90.
However, gaining 5 percent or more weight, compared to stable weight, was not associated with exceptional longevity.
“It is very common for older women in the United States to experience overweight or obesity with a body mass index range of 25 to 35. Our findings support stable weight as a goal for longevity in older women,” said first author Aladdin H. Shadyab, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at UC San Diego.
“If aging women find themselves losing weight when they are not trying to lose weight, this could be a warning sign of ill health and a predictor of decreased longevity.”
The findings suggest that general recommendations for weight loss in older women may not help them live longer. Nevertheless, the authors caution that women should heed medical advice if moderate weight loss is recommended to improve their health or quality of life.
The data expands on the growing research linking the relationship between weight change and mortality. Notably, this is the first large study to examine weight change later in life and its relation to exceptional longevity.
Co-authors include: Matthew A. Allison and Andrea Z. LaCroix, UC San Diego; JoAnn E. Manson, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Deepika Laddu, University of Illinois Chicago; Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Linda Van Horn, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine; Robert A. Wild, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center; Hailey R. Banack, Dalla Lana School of Public Health; Fred K. Tabung, Ohio State University; Bernhard Haring, University of Wurzburg and Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Yangbo Sun, University of Tennessee Health Science Center; Erin S. LeBlanc, Kaiser Permanente; Jean Wactawski-Wende, University at Buffalo – SUNY; Meryl S. LeBoff, Harvard Medical School; Michelle J. Naughton, Ohio State University; Juhua Luo, Indiana University Bloomington; Peter F. Schnatz, Reading Hospital/Tower Health; Ginny Natale, Stony Brook University; and Robert J. Ostfeld, Montefiore Health System.
Funding: This research was funded, in part, by the National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (75N92021D00001, 75N92021D00002, 75N92021D00003, 75N92021D00004 and 75N92021D00005).
Disclosure: Robert J. Ostfeld, MD, MSc, declares research grants from Purjes Foundation and Greenbaum Foundation, and is an advisory board member of Mesuron, Inc. with stock option interest.
About this longevity and weight research news
Author: Yadira Galindo
Source: UCSD
Contact: Yadira Galindo – UCSD
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Closed access.
“Association of later life weight changes with survival to ages 90, 95, and 100: The Women’s Health Initiative” by Aladdin H. Shadyab et al. Journal of Gerontology
Abstract
Association of later life weight changes with survival to ages 90, 95, and 100: The Women’s Health Initiative
Background
Associations of weight changes and intentionality of weight loss with longevity are not well described.
Methods
Using longitudinal data from the Women’s Health Initiative (N = 54 437; 61–81 years), we examined associations of weight changes and intentionality of weight loss with survival to ages 90, 95, and 100. Weight was measured at baseline, year 3, and year 10, and participants were classified as having weight loss (≥5% decrease from baseline), weight gain (≥5% increase from baseline), or stable weight (<5% change from baseline). Participants reported intentionality of weight loss at year 3.
Results
A total of 30 647 (56.3%) women survived to ≥90 years. After adjustment for relevant covariates, 3-year weight loss of ≥5% vs stable weight was associated with lower odds of survival to ages 90 (OR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.64–0.71), 95 (OR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.60–0.71), and 100 (OR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.49–0.78). Compared to intentional weight loss, unintentional weight loss was more strongly associated with lower odds of survival to age 90 (OR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.74–0.94 and OR, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.44–0.55, respectively). Three-year weight gain of ≥5% vs stable weight was not associated with survival to age 90, 95, or 100. The pattern of results was similar among normal weight, overweight, and obese women in body mass index (BMI)-stratified analyses.
Conclusions
Weight loss of ≥5% vs stable weight was associated with lower odds of longevity, more strongly for unintentional weight loss than for intentional weight loss. Potential inaccuracy of self-reported intentionality of weight loss and residual confounding were limitations.
