Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Paper
  • Published:

Obesity in 70-year-old Swedes: Secular changes over 30 years

International Journal of Obesity volume 29, pages 810–817 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

Secular increases in obesity have been widely reported in middle-aged adults, but less is known about such trends among the elderly. The primary purpose of this paper is to document the most recent wave of the obesity epidemic in population-based samples of 70-y-old men and women from Göteborg. Additionally, we will investigate the influences of physical activity, smoking and education on these secular trends.

POPULATIONS AND METHODS:

Five population-based samples of 3702 70-y-olds (1669 men and 2033 women) in Göteborg, Sweden, born between 1901 and 1930, were examined in the Gerontological and Geriatric Population Studies (H70) between 1971 and 2000. Cohort differences in anthropometric measures were the main outcomes studied. Physical activity, smoking habits and education were assessed by comparable methods in all cohorts. Subsamples of the women in the latest two cohorts (birth years 1922 and 1930) were also part of the Prospective Population Study of Women in Göteborg. In these women, it was possible to examine body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip circumference ratio (WHR) longitudinally since 1968.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS:

Significant upward trends were found for height, weight, BMI, waist circumference (WC), WHR, prevalence of overweight (BMI≥25 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI≥30 kg/m2) across cohorts in both sexes. In 2000, 20% of the 70-y-old men born in 1930 were obese, and the largest increment (almost doubling) had occurred between the early 1980s and the early 1990s. In 70-y-old women the prevalence of obesity was 24% in 2000, a 50% increase compared to the cohort born 8 y earlier. BMI increased over time in all physical activity, smoking and education groups, with the exception of never-smoking men. Although 70-y-old women in 2000 were heavier than cohorts examined 8 y previously, data from the women studied longitudinally revealed that these differences were already present in earlier adulthood. In conclusion, the elderly population is very much part of the obesity epidemic, although secular trends in BMI were detected slightly earlier in men than in women. The health implications of these secular trends should be focused on in future gerontological research.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Going S, Williams D, Lohman T . Aging and body composition: biological changes and methodological issues. Exerc Sport Sci Rev 1995; 23: 411–458.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Dey DK, Rothenberg E, Sundh V, Bosaeus I, Steen B . Height and body weight in the elderly. I. A 25-year longitudinal study of a population aged 70 to 95 years. Eur J Clin Nutr 1999; 53: 905–914.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Lahti-Koski M, Jousilahti P, Pietinen P . Secular trends in body mass index by birth cohort in eastern Finland from 1972 to 1997. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2001; 25: 727–734.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Dey DK, Lissner L . Obesity in 70-year-old subjects as a risk factor for 15-year coronary heart disease incidence. Obes Res 2003; 11: 817–827.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Lissner L, Bjorkelund C, Heitmann BL, Lapidus L, Bjorntorp P, Bengtsson C . Secular increases in waist–hip ratio among Swedish women. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1998; 22: 1116–1120.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Rinder L, Roupe S, Steen B, Svanborg A . Seventy-year-old people in Gothenburg. A population study in an industrialized Swedish city. Acta Med Scand 1975; 198: 397–407.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Steen B, Djurfeldt H . The gerontological and geriatric population studies in Gothenburg, Sweden. Z Gerontol 1993; 26: 163–169.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Dey DK, Rothenberg E, Sundh V, Bosaeus I, Steen B . Height and body weight in elderly adults: a 21-year population study on secular trends and related factors in 70-year-olds. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2001; 56: M780–M784.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Cabrera C, Wilhelmson K, Allebeck P, Wedel H, Steen B, Lissner L . Cohort differences in obesity-related health indicators among 70-year olds with special reference to gender and education. Eur J Epidemiol 2003; 18: 883–890.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Dey DK, Rothenberg E, Sundh V, Bosaeus I, Steen B . Waist circumference, body mass index, and risk for stroke in older people: a 15 year longitudinal population study of 70- year-olds. J Am Geriatr Soc 2002; 50: 1510–1518.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Molarius A, Seidell JC . Selection of anthropometric indicators for classification of abdominal fatness – a critical review. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1998; 22: 719–727.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Lissner L, Bjorkelund C, Heitmann BL, Seidell JC, Bengtsson C . Larger hip circumference independently predicts health and longevity in a Swedish female cohort. Obes Res 2001; 9: 644–646.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Lahti-Koski M, Pietinen P, Mannisto S, Vartiainen E . Trends in waist-to-hip ratio and its determinants in adults in Finland from 1987 to 1997. Am J Clin Nutr 2000; 72: 1436–1444.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Liese AD, Doring A, Hense HW, Keil U . Five year changes in waist circumference, body mass index and obesity in Augsburg, Germany. Eur J Nutr 2001; 40: 282–288.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Martinez-Gonzalez MA, Martinez JA, Hu FB, Gibney MJ, Kearney J . Physical inactivity, sedentary lifestyle and obesity in the European Union. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1999; 23: 1192–1201.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Norman A, Bellocco R, Vaida F, Wolk A . Total physical activity in relation to age, body mass, health and other factors in a cohort of Swedish men. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2002; 26: 670–675.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Molarius A, Seidell JC, Sans S, Tuomilehto J, Kuulasmaa K . Educational level, relative body weight, and changes in their association over 10 years: an international perspective from the WHO MONICA Project. Am J Public Health 2000; 90: 1260–1268.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. WHO. Obesity: preventing and managing the global epidemic* Report of a WHO consultation. World Health Organ Tech Rep Ser 2000; 894 (i–xii): 1–253.

  19. Molarius A, Seidell JC, Kuulasmaa K, Dobson AJ, Sans S . Smoking and relative body weight: an international perspective from the WHO MONICA Project. J Epidemiol Community Health 1997; 51: 252–260.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Berg S . Psychological functioning in 70- and 75-year-old people. A study in an industrialized city. Acta Psychiatr Scand Suppl 1980; 288: 1–47.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Eriksson BG, Mellstrom D, Svanborg A . Medical-social intervention in a 70-year-old Swedish population. A general presentation of methodological experience. Compr Gerontol [C] 1987; 1: 49–56.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Bengtsson C, Ahlqwist M, Andersson K, Bjorkelund C, Lissner L, Soderstrom M . The prospective population study of women in Gothenburg, Sweden, 1968–69 to 1992–93. A 24-year follow-up study with special reference to participation, representativeness, and mortality. Scand J Prim Health Care 1997; 15: 214–219.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Bengtsson C, Bjorkelund C, Lapidus L, Lissner L . Associations of serum lipid concentrations and obesity with mortality in women: 20 year follow up of participants in prospective population study in Gothenburg, Sweden. BMJ 1993; 307: 1385–1388.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Lissner L, Skoog I, Andersson K, Beckman N, Sundh V, Waern M, Zylberstein DE, Bengtsson C, Bjorkelund C . Participation bias in longitudinal studies: experience from the Population Study of Women in Gothenburg, Sweden. Scand J Prim Health Care 2003; 21: 242–247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Bergh I, Steen G, Waern M, Johansson B, Oden A, Sjostrom B, Steen B . Pain and its relation to cognitive function and depressive symptoms: a Swedish population study of 70-year-old men and women. J Pain Symptom Manage 2003; 26: 903–912.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. van't Hof MA, Burema J . Assessment of bias in the SENECA study. Eur J Clin Nutr 1996; 50 (Suppl 2): S4–S8.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Berg C, Rosengren A, Aires N, Iappas G, Torén K, Thelle D, Lissner L . Trends in overweight and obesity from 1985 to 2002 in Göteborg, West Sweden. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord (in press).

  28. Lissner L, Johansson SE, Qvist J, Rossner S, Wolk A . Social mapping of the obesity epidemic in Sweden. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2000; 24: 801–805.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Flegal KM, Carroll MD, Ogden CL, Johnson CL . Prevalence and trends in obesity among US adults, 1999–2000. JAMA 2002; 288: 1723–1727.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Seidell JC, Visscher TL . Body weight and weight change and their health implications for the elderly. Eur J Clin Nutr 2000; 54 (Suppl 3): S33–S39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Visscher TL, Seidell JC, Molarius A, van der Kuip D, Hofman A, Witteman JC . A comparison of body mass index, waist–hip ratio and waist circumference as predictors of all-cause mortality among the elderly: the Rotterdam study. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2001; 25: 1730–1735.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Molarius A, Seidell JC, Sans S, Tuomilehto J, Kuulasmaa K . Waist and hip circumferences, and waist–hip ratio in 19 populations of the WHO MONICA Project. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1999; 23: 116–125.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Harris TB, Visser M, Everhart J, Cauley J, Tylavsky F, Fuerst T et al. Waist circumference and sagittal diameter reflect total body fat better than visceral fat in older men and women. The Health, Aging and Body Composition Study. Ann NY Acad Sci 2000; 904: 462–473.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Eiben G, Andersson C, Rothenberg E, Sundh V, Steen B, Lissner L . Secular trends in diet among elderly Swedes – cohort comparisons over three decades. Public Health Nutr 2004; 7: 637–644.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Bengtsson C, Hallberg L, Noppa H, Tibblin E . Anthropometric data in middle-aged women. The population study of women in Goteborg 1968–1969. Acta Morphol Neerl Scand 1979; 17: 133–143.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Statistiska Centralbyran. Swedish Statistics. Stockholm; 2002.

Download references

Acknowledgements

The Gerontological and Geriatric Population Studies in Gothenburg (H70) and The Population Study of Women in Gothenburg were supported by grants from the Dr Félix Neubergh Foundation, the Elsa and Eivind K:son Sylvan Foundation, the Gothenburg Medical Services Administration, the Hjalmar Svensson Foundation, the Swedish Medical Research Council (B93-27X-10429-01), the Swedish Social Research Council (92-0231:1B), the Wilhelm and Martina Lundgren Foundation, and the Heart and Lung Patients' National Association, Gun and Bertil Stohnes Foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Primary Health Care, Göteborg University, Sweden

    G Eiben, C Björkelund, C Bengtsson & L Lissner

  2. Department of Geriatric Medicine, Göteborg University, Sweden

    D K Dey, E Rothenberg & B Steen

  3. Department of Clinical Nutrition, Sahlgrenska University Hospital,

    E Rothenberg

Authors
  1. G Eiben
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. D K Dey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. E Rothenberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. B Steen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. C Björkelund
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. C Bengtsson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. L Lissner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to G Eiben.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Eiben, G., Dey, D., Rothenberg, E. et al. Obesity in 70-year-old Swedes: Secular changes over 30 years. Int J Obes 29, 810–817 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802940

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802940

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links