Daily HealthBeat Tip

What doesn�t kill you might not make you stronger, either.

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

Obesity might not kill you, but it could leave you disabled.

A study funded by the National Institutes of Health says obese adults who reach age 70 are no more at risk of dying early than non-obese adults. But the study in the journal The Gerontologist says the likelihood that they' spend remaining years disabled increases dramatically. It defines disability as having difficulty performing one or more acts of daily living, such as bathing, eating, or dressing.

Researcher Sandra Reynolds of the University of South Florida says this means the need for family and institutional care will rise. But she has an alternative:

"Our results imply that efforts to maintain weight loss, improve diets and improved activity levels could be a very important factor in improving the quality of life, even for the very old." (13 seconds)

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: September 29, 2005

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