Study: For Women, Gaining A Few Pounds In Your 70s Not As Dangerous

By Holliday Moore
Published: Monday, February 27, 2017 - 6:41pm

Turns out gaining a few pounds as a woman in your 70s is far less dangerous than being either too thin or gaining most of that weight around your middle.

Zhao Chen with the University of Arizona says her team studied the body mass indexes of more than 162,000 women in their 50s to 70s over an 11-year span.  

They found women who weighed more but carried the weight evenly had a better mortality rate than women with concentrated fat around the stomach and lower back.

“This fat actually deposits in your intestines.  So, it’s more detrimental on your metabolism,” Chen said.

The study found women whose waists expanded 31 inches or greater experienced higher health risks, and those with waistlines 35 inches or greater were at extreme risk of death.

The same study also showed a higher health risk for women who lost too much weight as they aged.