メディエイゴ

It may be timely to review the body mass index(1) (BMI) classification(2) for older adults(3) as new research suggests that older overweight(4) people are less likely to(5) die over a 10 year period than their normal weight(6) peers(7).

A statistical(8) measurement which utilises(9) a person's height and weight, the BMI has long been used as a formula(10) by the World Health Organization(11) to enable health professionals(12) to discuss weight problems objectively(13) with their patients.

However, a decade-long(14) research project led by Winthrop Professor Leon Flicker at The University of Western Australia found that the category of overweight based on the index may not be a useful tool for Australian men and women aged between 70 and 75.

Professor Flicker and his team assessed 9,200 men and women for their health and lifestyle as part of a study into healthy ageing(15). They found that adults aged over 70 years who are classified as(16) overweight are less likely to die than adults in the normal weight range. The researchers(17) also found that this holds true for(18) the common causes of death(19) including both cancer(20) and cardiovascular disease(21); and that being sedentary(22) doubles the risk of death for women but only increases the risk by a quarter in men.

Published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics(23) Society, the study sheds light on(24) the situation in Australia, ranked the third most obese(25) country after the United States and the United Kingdom.

These results add evidence to the claims that the WHO's BMI thresholds(26) for overweight and obese are overly(27) restrictive(28) for older people.