The elderly require a balanced diet for good health. As more Americans become overweight, the percentage of elderly people with a weight problem increases as well. If you are elderly, you must use caution when dieting for weight loss; you should consult with a health care provider before making drastic dietary changes. Dieting may cause health complications not experienced by younger people on the same diet.
Accelerated Muscle Loss
While weight loss has health benefits for children and young adults, intentional weight loss programs that target excess fat may accelerate muscle loss in the elderly with sarcopenic obesity, according to research from Research in Aging and Longevity at the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Sarcopenic obesity is a health condition characterized by an increase in fat percentage but a decrease in muscle mass. The research, published in the August-September 2008 issue of the "Journal of Nutrition Health and Aging," recommends that if you are elderly, you should avoid using caloric restriction as a treatment for sarcopenic obesity.
Weight Loss and Mortality in Middle Age
Extreme weight loss in middle-aged men is a precursor for increased mortality rates when they become elderly, according to a statistical analysis performed by the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department at the Neufeld Cardiac Research Institute at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, Israel. Researchers considered men who lost 11 pounds or more to have achieved "extreme weight loss." The results, published in volume 148 of the "American Journal of Epidemiology," found these increased mortality rates later in life were double among men with extreme weight loss and included cardiovascular and noncardiovascular disease mortality.
Increased Bone Loss
Total rate of decline in hipbone density steadily increased to -0.92 percent in women with weight loss compared to -0.69 percent in women with a stable weight, according to a study of 6785 elderly white women by the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures Research Group. Weight gain in this study is defined as an increase of 5 percent or more from a baseline weight. The results, published in the December 2003 issue of the "Journal of the American Geriatrics Society," found the highest rates of hipbone loss were seen in women intentionally dieting for weight loss, irrespective of their body mass index number. Elderly women who have fractured their hip and who lose weight in their later years have a twofold greater risk of a second hip fracture.
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