Influence of physical activity on age-related weight loss in the elderly.
BACKGROUND
Little is known about the effects of physical activity on weight loss in older adults.


METHODS
Participants included 4512 community-dwelling older (> or =65 yr) men and women from the Cardiovascular Health Study. Physical activity (PA) was determined from a questionnaire at baseline and subjects were divided into sex-specific PA quartiles. Weight was measured at baseline and annually over the 8 years of follow-up. The influence of PA on longitudinal changes in body weight was examined using mixed models while adjusting for lifestyle variables, sociodemographic characteristics, and disease status.


RESULTS
Body weight declined in a curvilinear manner over time with accelerated weight loss occurring in the final years. Over the 8 yr follow-up period, the least active PA quartile lost 2.72 kg. Weight loss was attenuated by 0.55 kg (20%, P = .057), 0.80 kg (29%, P = .05), and 0.69 kg (25%, P = .016) within the second through fourth PA quartiles. The effects of PA did not differ by gender, but increased with advancing age.


CONCLUSIONS
Participation in modest amounts of PA attenuated age-related weight loss by approximately 25% with little additional benefit observed at higher PA levels. This finding adds to the growing number of health outcomes that are positively affected by PA.
Stephen
Wendy C
WC
School of Kinesiology and Health Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Janssen
Ian
I
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001835:Body Weight; D015897:Comorbidity; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015431:Weight Loss