Over 50 Puge May Mean You’ll Live Longer

Being in the over 50 crowd seems like I am working harder than ever to stay fit and eat right because as we all know your metabolism slows the older we get and putting on extra pounds is bad right?

Well, there is a little good news to take a little of the pressure off a new study has found that those who are classed as 'overweight' in their 50s yet kept this stable, were in the group most likely to survive the next 16 years.

So what does that mean? Well in a nut shell, maintaining your regular weight even plus a few pounds can be ok.

Here is how it went. The study was conducted by Ohio State University,

Weight categories were set by using their height-to-weight ratio that can identify body fat called their BMI

Almost 10,000 people were interviewed every two years from 1992 until 2009, with their BMIs recorded, and it concluded that 7.2 per cent of deaths after the age of 51 are due to weight gain among obese people. Those involved in the study were classified into six different groups, depending on their BMI at the beginning of the study and how it changed over the 16-year period they were surveyed.

While slightly overweight people (BMI of 25 to 29.9) whose weight was steady had the highest survival rate, those who moved from overweight to obese (BMI 30 to 34.9) were close behind.

'This suggests that among overweight people at age 51, small weight gains do not significantly lower the probability of survival,'

Third were normal-weight individuals who add gradual mass, followed in fourth by Class I obese people whose weight was on the rise.

Next to last were those of normal weight who were reducing in size, followed by the most susceptible group who were the most obese, BMI of 35 and over.

So do what you can to stay active and eat right and don’t let a few pounds worry you.