A team of scientists has found that weight gain during young adulthood is most strongly associated with mortality risk.
Participants who developed obesity for the first time among 17 and 29 years old they were about 70% more likely to die from any cause during the follow-up period, compared with those who had not developed obesity at the time. 60 years.
In new, published this month in eClinicalMedicineinvestigators gathered information on more than 600 mil people from an existing dataset, including only those with at least three weight measurements recorded between 17 and 60 years old.
Although the study did not demonstrate that early weight gain was specifically responsible for the deaths, rather than any other factor, it is known that obesity is associated with a range of health problems.
“We believe that weight gain at a younger age is associated with a higher risk of premature death later in life compared to people who gain less weight,” said the study’s lead author, Tanja Stocks.
According to researchers, it is possible that spending more years living with the biological stress of being overweight, with the body under greater pressure and at a greater risk of wear and tear than normal, is a reason for early deaths.
According to , the team tracked mortality associated with numerous obesity-related conditions, including cardiovascular diseases, various types of cancer e type 2 diabetes. The onset of obesity was defined as the first time a body mass index (BMI) reached 30 or more.
As expected, those who gained the most weight at all ages were more likely to die during the study period. Cardiovascular diseases, including heart attacks and strokes, accounted for the majority of these associations.
“Long-term exposure to insulin resistance, inflammation and hypercoagulation due to adipocitocinas released by adipose tissue probably contributes to these risks”, revealed the researchers.
Deaths from type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer have also been linked to obesity. However, some causes of death (including bladder cancer in men and stomach cancer in women) have shown no link, statistically.
There was also differences between men and women.
In the case of cancer in women, the increased risk of premature death associated with obesity was practically the same, regardless of when weight gain occurred. This suggests that the factor is more significant here than in other cases, perhaps due to hormonal changes related to menopause.
Finally, it is essential to adopt a healthy lifestyle from a young age, never forgetting the importance of a varied diet and from sports practice.
