Gaining weight in early adulthood linked to increased risk of premature death

New Chinese research has found that gaining weight at all stages of adulthood could increase the risk of premature death.

Carried out by researchers at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China, the new study looked at data gathered from 36,051 people aged 40 years and over taking part in the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which is a nationally representative annual survey that examines the health of US citizens.

The participants’ had their body weight and height measured at the start of the survey to calculate body mass index (BMI), and were asked to report what their weight was in young adulthood at age 25, and in middle adulthood, at age 47, on average.

Deaths from any cause, but specifically from heart diseases, were recorded for an average of 12 years.

The findings, published in The BMJ Wednesday, showed that after taking into account potentially influential factors, the participants who gained weight between young to middle adulthood, moving from the non-obese to obese BMI category, had a 22 percent higher risk of death from all causes and death from heart disease, respectively.

However, losing weight during this period, and moving from an obese to non-obese BMI, was not significantly associated with risk of death.

When looking at weight changes from middle to late adulthood, the team found that as participants got older, the association between weight gain and mortality weakened; moving from the non-obese to obese category over this period was not significantly associated with mortality risk.

On the other hand, losing weight during this period was associated with an increased risk of death from all causes and from heart disease.

Participants who remained obese throughout adult life had the highest risk of death, and, perhaps surprisingly, those who remained overweight throughout adult life had a very modest or no increased risk of death.

No significant associations were found between various weight change patterns and risk of death from cancer mortality.

As an observational study, the researchers note that they cannot establish cause and effect. Some of the increased risk may have also been due to factors not looked at in this study.

However, as the results were based on a large, nationally representative sample of participants who were followed for a long period of time, the team concluded that, “Stable obesity across adulthood, weight gain from young to middle adulthood, and weight loss from middle to late adulthood were associated with increased risks of mortality.”

“The results highlight the importance of maintaining normal weight across adulthood, especially preventing weight gain in early adulthood, for preventing premature deaths in later life.”

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