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  • Geriatric Original Article
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Physical activity and weight gain prevention in older men

International Journal of Obesity volume 36, pages 1165–1169 (2012)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background:

Physical activity and adiposity are important predictors of mortality, even in older individuals. However, it is unclear how much physical activity is needed to prevent weight gain in older persons.

Purpose:

To examine the associations of different amounts of physical activity with weight gain prevention in older men.

Methods:

A total of 5973 healthy men (mean age, 65.0 years) from the Harvard Alumni Health Study were followed from 1988 to 1998. At baseline (1988), in 1993 and 1998, men reported their recreational physical activity and body weight. Physical activity was categorized as: <7.5 metabolic equivalent (MET)-h per week (7.5 MET-h per week corresponds to the minimum required by the 2008 US federal guidelines), 7.5 to <21 MET-h per week (21 MET-h per week corresponds to the 2002 Institute of Medicine (IOM) guideline) and ⩾21 MET-h per week. Meaningful weight gain was defined as an increase of ⩾3% of body weight.

Results:

Overall, weight tended to be stable over any 5-year period; mean change, −0.08 (s.d.=4.44) kg. However, ∼21% of men experienced meaningful weight gain over any 5-year period. In multivariate analyses, compared with men expending ⩾21 MET-h per week, those expending 7.5 to <21 MET-h per week had an odds ratio (OR) of 1.35 (95% confidence interval: 1.03, 1.77) for meaningful weight gain, and men expending <7.5 MET-h per week, an OR of 1.16 (1.01, 1.33; P trend=0.09).

Conclusions:

Among older men, those with lesser levels of physical activity were more likely to gain weight than men satisfying the 2002 IOM guidelines of ⩾21 MET-h per week (∼60 min day−1 of moderate-intensity physical activity).

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Sarah E Freeman and Alvin L Wing for their help with the College Alumni Health Study. This study is supported by research grants DK081141 and CA130068 from the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    E J Shiroma, H D Sesso & I-M Lee

  2. Division of Preventive Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    E J Shiroma, H D Sesso & I-M Lee

  3. Division of Aging, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    H D Sesso

Authors
  1. E J Shiroma
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  2. H D Sesso
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  3. I-M Lee
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Correspondence to E J Shiroma.

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Competing interests

Drs Lee, Sesso and Mr Shiroma's work have been funded by the NIH. Dr Lee has served as a consultant to Virgin HealthMiles. Dr Sesso and Mr Shiroma have no commercial associations or sources of support that might post a conflict of interest.

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The manuscript has not been published nor is it under consideration for publication elsewhere, and will not be published elsewhere while under consideration by Int J Obesity. All authors have made substantive contributions to the study and will sign a statement attesting authorships, disclosing all potential conflicts of interest, and releasing copyright should the manuscript be acceptable for publication.

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Shiroma, E., Sesso, H. & Lee, IM. Physical activity and weight gain prevention in older men. Int J Obes 36, 1165–1169 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2011.266

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