HHS HealthBeat (June 28, 2010)

Growing older, getting bigger, developing diabetes

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

Obesity and weight gain in midlife and later may raise the risk of developing diabetes among older adults. At the University of Washington, David Siscovick saw this in data on close to 4,200 people.

"Older adults who had evidence of increased levels of adiposity – that is, being overweight or obese – were at higher risk of developing diabetes later in life." (8 seconds)

Siscovick and his colleagues say people who gained 20 pounds or more after age 50 had a higher risk of diabetes. And older people with the highest level of fatness had twice to six times the likelihood compared with people in the lowest category.

The study in the Journal of the American Medical Association 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: November 21, 2011