New study on obesity and physical inactivity and women

A new year is dawning. We all have resolutions to become healthier and happier adults. Sometimes we need a wake-up call or nudge to set these resolutions into motion. Don't allow that nudge to be a medical diagnosis...that may be too late in coming. Please take action now and begin a new lifestyle. It could save your life!
If you still need to be convinced that lifestyle changes are important for women...please read the information below regarding the latest study on obesity and its side effects as published in the latest edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Dec. 2004 Issue of The New England Journal of Medicine:
Adiposity as Compared with Physical Activity in Predicting Mortality among Women

Frank B. Hu, M.D., Walter C. Willett, M.D., Tricia Li, M.D., Meir J. Stampfer, M.D., Graham A. Colditz, M.D., and JoAnn E. Manson, M.D.

The above mentioned doctors examined the associations of the body-mass index and physical activity with death among 116,564 women who, in 1976, were 30 to 55 years of age and free of known cardiovascular disease and cancer.

The Doctors found... During 24 years of follow-up, 10,282 deaths occurred — 2370
from cardiovascular disease, 5223 from cancer, and 2689 from other causes.
Mortality rates increased monotonically with higher body-mass-index values among
women who had never smoked (P for trend <0.001).>

In combined analyses of all participants, adiposity predicted a higher risk of death regardless of the level of physical activity. Higher levels of physical activity appeared to be beneficial at all levels of adiposity but did not eliminate the higher risk of
death associated with obesity. As compared with women who were lean
(i.e., they had a body-mass index lower than 25) and active (they spent 3.5 or
more hours exercising per week), the multivariate relative risks of death were
1.55 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.42 to 1.70) for lean and inactive women,
1.91 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.60 to 2.30) for women who were obese
(defined as a body-mass index of 30 or higher) but active, and 2.42 (95 percent
confidence interval, 2.14 to 2.73) for inactive, obese women.

Even modest weight gain during adulthood, independent of physical activity, was
associated with a higher risk of death.

We estimate that excess weight (defined as a body-mass index of 25 or higher) and physical inactivity (less than 3.5 hours of exercise per week) together could account for 31 percent of all premature deaths, 59 percent of deaths from cardiovascular disease, and 21 percent of deaths from cancer among nonsmoking women.

Conclusions Both increased adiposity and reduced physical activity are strong and independent predictors of death.

Source Information
From the Departments of Nutrition (F.B.H., W.C.W., T.L., M.J.S.) and Epidemiology (F.B.H., W.C.W., M.J.S., G.A.C., J.E.M.), Harvard School of Public Health; and the Channing Laboratory (F.B.H., W.C.W., M.J.S., G.A.C., J.E.M.) and the Division of Preventive Medicine (J.E.M.), Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital — all in Boston.

My take on the above information...if you want to live a full productive life and be here for your loved ones you have to make changes. It is never to early nor to late!
Find a program that will help you become physically active and learn to fuel your body with the food it needs to thrive and be alive!

For more information I urge you to talk with your Doctor and/or Nurse Practicioner. They can be important partners in your health!