Information Tip for Today:

Obesity Takes Toll After 40

Visit our Blogspot for the full report.

A new finding suggests that obesity may affect your health the most after age 40.
A study compared medications taken by normal weight, overweight and obese Americans ages 25 to 70. While obese people of all ages took slightly more medications than those of normal weight, the differences were mainly among adults 40 and older.
According to the New York Times: "For example, 28.7 percent of obese men and 25.2 percent of normal weight men ages 25 to 39 took medications. But among those 40 to 54, 60 percent of obese men were on medication, compared with 39.3 percent of men of average weight."
We already know that over-medication is rampant in the US, so without actually looking at their individual lab tests and other facts, counting medications could offer a deceptive picture. Many health problems also go undiagnosed, or may be misdiagnosed, and may therefore not be medicated. If you're simply counting medications as an indicator of health status, you're assuming that those that don't take meds are healthy… although in reality they may be far from it. And you're assuming those taking meds are ill, when in fact they may have been prescribed drugs that aren't warranted. These questions aside, the study found that:
• Just over 25 percent of normal weight men aged 25-39 were on some form of medication
• Nearly 29 percent of obese men aged 25-39 took medications
• Just over 39 percent of normal weight men aged 40-54 were on medication, whereas
• 60 percent of obese men aged 40-54 took medications
Naturally, the health risks associated with obesity will rise with age. However, to insinuate that it might not pose a problem until middle age is foolhardy at best, because by then the damage is already done!