Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 14, 1990 TAG: 9003143167
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHICAGO LENGTH: Medium
Women of both races were twice as likely as men to gain a lot of weight, and women from 25 to 44 years who began the study overweight gained the most weight of all subjects, researchers found.
Among both sexes, those 25 to 34 were most likely to experience a major weight gain, according to the study in this month's Archives of Internal Medicine, published by the Chicago-based American Medical Association.
The findings "suggest that among adults, those in their 20s should be in the primary target group for obesity prevention efforts," said the study led by epidemiologist David Williamson of the nutrition division at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.
Prevention, rather than treatment, is the key because so many people have trouble losing weight, Williamson said by telephone.
He recommends "just regular sensible exercise, like walking," and eating a diet low in fat and high in fruits and vegetables.
Williamson noted that while women may be more likely to gain weight than men, previous research has found that men face a greater risk of developing weight-related problems such as heart disease and diabetes.
Women tend to carry excess weight in the buttocks and hips, while men's extra poundage usually is concentrated in the stomach area, nearer the heart and other vital organs and thus more likely to cause problems, he said.
Among women 25 to 34 years old, blacks were 40 percent more likely than whites to gain a lot of weight, Williamson's study found. For women from 35 to 44, blacks were 80 percent more likely to face a major weight gain, the researchers found.
As many as one-third of the 9,862 subjects were overweight when the study began. They were measured once between 1971 and 1975, and again between 1981 and 1984.
Women ages 25 to 44 who began the study overweight gained the most weight of all subjects.
Researchers defined a major weight gain as an increase of about 20 percent, or an estimated 30 pounds for a person of average height.
Among all women ages 25 to 44 who were overweight at the start, 14.2 percent experienced a major weight gain, compared with 5.6 percent among men of the same age.
Among women of that age group who were of normal weight when the monitoring began, 6.2 percent gained a lot of weight, compared with 2.9 percent among men.
After age 55, weight levels in men and women studied began declining.
The researchers did not attempt to explain the weight-gain differences among women, men and blacks, Williamson said.
by CNB