Excess Weight Leads to Difficulties with Independent Living

Older adults who are obese are more likely to develop problems with day-to-day activities, with a greater number of new disabilities reported resultant from more excess weight carried. Christina Wee, from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Massachusetts, USA), and colleagues reviewed information collected from 20,975 Medicare recipients during periodic interviews over a 4-year period. More than one-third of participants were overweight, and another 18% were obese.  The study focused on people’s responses to questions about their ability to complete day-to-day activities, which include eating, getting in and out of chairs, and walking. The researchers separated these basic motions from so-called “instrumental” daily activities, which consisted of using the telephone, cooking, shopping, and managing money. The team found that between 22 and 32% of overweight and obese women reported they were struggling more with at least one daily activity over the course of the study period, as compared to 20% of older women who were at a healthy weight. When it came to “instrumental daily activities,” between 30 and 38% of overweight and obese men said those activities had become harder since the study began, while only 28% of men without excess weight reported the same problem.  Reporting that: “Among older U.S. adults, obesity was not associated with mortality, except for those with at least moderately severe obesity. However, lower levels of obesity were associated with new or worsening disability within 2 years,” the team urges that: “Efforts to prevent disability in older adults should target those who are overweight or obese.”