80% Of Over 50s 'Overweight'

Four out of five Irish adults over the age of 50 are overweight or obese, while a similar proportion has an "increased" or "substantially increased" waist circumference, according to a study by The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) led by Trinity College, Dublin.

The study of over 8,000 people aged 50 and over in Ireland has found that just one fifth of over 50s have a normal BMI or waist circumference.

It said the prevalence of obesity in men over 50 in Ireland is comparable with American men over 50, while English rates are much lower. The report also found that the prevalence of obesity in women over 50 in Ireland is lower than among comparable women in the US, and similar to the prevalence among older English women.

But the figures also indicate a serious burden being placed upon Ireland's health services as a result of the high levels of obesity.

A 2012 study carried out for Safefood found that obesity costs the Irish economy €1.3billion, Trinity said.

The key findings in the report are that 36% of Irish people over 50s are obese and a further 43% are overweight.

Based on waist circumference measurements, 52% of Irish over 50s are "centrally obese", i.e., with a "substantially increased" waist circumference, while a further 25% have an "increased waist circumference".

A higher proportion of men (38%) are obese than women (33%). But, using waist circumference as an indicator of obesity, a higher proportion of women (56%) have a "substantially increased" waist circumference than men (48%).

39% of women on lower incomes are obese, in comparison to 24% of women on higher incomes.

Dr Siobhan Leahy, TILDA Research Fellow and lead author of the report said: "TILDA is the first study to look specifically at obesity in the over 50s in Ireland. Our findings show not only worryingly high levels of obesity but also the impact of these levels on health and everyday activity among the over 50s in Ireland. The proportion of over 50s in Ireland who are overweight or obese is significantly higher than that of the general adult population in Ireland. While this age group is already more likely to be affected by age-related illness, frailty and cardiovascular disease, these conditions are exacerbated by the presence of obesity and significantly higher levels of disease and disability are evident in obese individuals. Our study highlights the combined impact of the obesity crisis and a rapidly ageing population on health and health service demand."

(IT/CD)