Physical Function Is Reduced By Obesity

San Diego, CA – February 26, 2002 This week findings of University of North Carolina's investigators are presented at the North American Association for the Study of Obesity's (NAASO) annual meeting, held at the First Annual Nutrition Week. These findings indicate that obesity reduces functional independence in the elderly, particularly among African-American women.

Dr. Denise Houston and her colleagues sought to identify variables, particularly those amenable to change, with in the elderly population. The investigators studied the relationship between obesity and immobility in a group of 11,261 Caucasian and African-American men and women between the ages of 54 and 73 years. The study population was drawn from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study cohort. Dr. Louis Aronne, Chairman of the Public Affairs Committee of NAASO notes "Mobility is a major component of maintaining overall health in the elderly and it is clearly diminished in the obese."

Obesity is assessed by calculating the body mass index (BMI) from measured weight and height. Obesity is defined as a BMI of 30 or greater according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and NAASO's Practical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults and overweight is defined as a BMI of 25 to 29.9.

The subjects were classified as being physically mobile or immobile based on their responses to four questions about their physical function. People who reported having difficulty with any of the 4 times were classified as immobile. Mathematical models were applied to the results in order to adjust for age, education, smoking and disease.

Sixty-eight percent of African-American Women reported difficulty in moving around and other physical function, which was higher than the prevalence of immobility in the African-American men (44%) and higher than both Caucasian men (38%) and women (54%). Higher levels of overweight were significantly related to increased risk of immobility within each of the ethnic and gender groups (p<0.05). "The risk of immobility was higher in normal weight African-Americans (those who had a BMI of 21) compared with Caucasians but the risks became parallel with higher levels of BMI." The relative risks for reduced mobility were 1.4-2.0 times greater in obese people (BMI of >30) compared with normal weight people (BMI 21).

In both Caucasian and African-American men and women an increasing degree of overweight and obesity was associated with an increased risk of immobility. "Obesity is one potential modifiable risk factor which can compromise the ability of the aging population to maintain their functional independence," according to Dr. Aronne of NAASO.

The North American Society for the Study of Obesity (NAASO) is a leading scientific society dedicated to the study of obesity. NAASO is committed to encouraging research on the causes, treatment and prevention of obesity and to keeping the scientific community and public informed of new advances in the field.