Four times the risk
Study: Young adults are at the highest risk of obesity
A study now shows: 18 to 24 year olds have a higher risk of becoming obese in old age (symbol image)
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A new study in Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology shows that young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 have the highest risk of weight gain.
This article first appeared on RTL.de.
Obesity is a big problem in Germany. According to the “German Adipositas Society”, more than half of all adults in the country are too fat, and a quarter are even very overweight – that is to say, morbidly obese. The frequency of obesity only increases with age, but whether a person becomes severely overweight and obese is decided in early adulthood – as a cohort study in “Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology” now shows. According to this, 18 to 24 year olds have the highest risk of gaining weight.
Obesity in early adulthood: four times the risk of obesity
For the study, Dr. Mikhail Katsoulis of University College London and staff analyzed 2.4 million electronic medical records from National Health Service (NHS) patients from 1998 to 2016. They mainly focused on weight development. It was found that the youngest patients had the greatest weight gain.
Within ten years, the average weight in the 18 to 24 age group increased from 80.8 kg to 90.2 kg. In the age group from 65 to 74 years, on the other hand, the average weight remained constant and even fell from 83.9 kg to 82.2 kg over ten years.
According to calculations by Katsoulis, 18 to 24 year olds had a four times higher risk of becoming overweight or obese than seniors. The risk of switching from being overweight to being obese was even greater. After ten years, 37 percent of normal weight young adults had become overweight or obese. 42 percent of those who were overweight suffered from pathological overweight, i.e. obesity, after all these years.
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