HHS HealthBeat (February 7, 2012)

Watching weight gain?

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

A study indicates young women don’t always realize when they’ve gained weight. Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston saw this among 466 women with an average age of 25, who did six-month checkups in which they reported whether they thought they had gained weight. But the researchers say some gained more than 10 pounds without realizing it.

Researcher Mahbubur Rahman points out that letting body weight grow above normal has health risks:

“If they can keep their body weight normal, their risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer would be much lower, and quality of life would be much higher.”  (9 seconds)

The study in the Journal of Women’s Health was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

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

Last revised: February 7, 2012