More Evidence Ties Obesity to Disability in Older Women

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Studies found higher risks for heart disease, mobility problems and early death

By Dennis Thompson

HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Nov. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Women who are obese as they near retirement age have a higher risk of early death and may find their remaining years blighted by disability, researchers say.

Obese women are three to six times more likely to suffer a disability late in life that will make it difficult for them to get around, with the risk rising with their level of obesity, according to a new study published online Nov. 11 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

A second study in the same journal issue found that being overweight or obese raises your risk of heart attack and heart disease even if you are otherwise healthy.

The number of women aged 85 years and older in the United States is increasing, according to study background information, with 11.6 million women expected to reach 85 by 2050.

Obesity rates also continue to increase, and nearly one-third of U.S. women 75 years and older are obese. This extra weight not only reduces life span, but also can severely harm an older woman's quality of life.

"For dying and losing the ability to walk, the risks were alarmingly high -- over threefold to upwards of over sixfold," said study co-author Eileen Rillamas-Sun, a staff scientist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, in Seattle. "I believe that remaining mobile is very important to most older people, especially since it is useful for retaining one's independence."

The new findings aren't that surprising, but they're important, one expert noted.

Together, the two studies "verify something that we knew, but give us some more ammunition to craft more programs and pay more attention to women's body weight and obesity overall," said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association (APHA).

"The obesity epidemic isn't just our kids, and if you are thinking forward we are having this enormous growth as the baby boomers age through society," he said. "We're going to have to spend a lot of time encouraging women to achieve a sensible body weight."

Rillamas-Sun's study examined the health records of nearly 37,000 older women participating in the Women's Health Initiative, a long-term study sponsored by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

The researchers found that about 12 percent of healthy-weight women had become disabled by age 85, requiring a walker or some other assistance for getting around.

By comparison, between 25 percent and 34 percent of obese women were disabled, with incidence rising with the patient's body mass index (BMI), a measurement of body fat that takes height and weight into account.

Overall, a waist circumference greater than 35 inches was associated with a higher risk of early death, along with new diseases developing during the study period and mobility disability, the researchers said.