Daily HealthBeat Tip

The spread of middle age spread.

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Middle age spread � it looks like you can run, but you can't hide. A researcher has found this in a look at the weight and running habits of more than 60,000 runners.

Russ Pate of the University of South Carolina says older runners weighed more than younger runners, even if they did the same number of miles. His study, which was supported by the National Institutes of Health, was in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.

Pate thinks there is a way to outrun middle age spread.

"To maintain the same weight � maintain the same body mass index over the years � runners may need to run more miles as they age." (10 seconds)

But even if spread happens, exercise still has heart-protective benefits that are independent of weight. Runners can literally take heart.

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: December 12, 2005

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