In a new study, researchers from the University of California San Diego (UCSD) found that older women who maintained a stable weight may be 1.2 to 2 times had higher chances to reach ages 90 to 100.
For their study, the research team included data on 54,437 women from the Women’s Health Initiative. They looked at short-term and long-term weight changes in women and compared that to the age they reached.
The authors write that those women who experienced weight loss (for any reason) of more than 5% at the 3-year checkup had 33% lower odds of reaching 90, 35% lower odds of reaching 95, and 38% lower odds of reaching 100.
The study lead author Prof. Aladdin H. Shadyab says: “If aging women find themselves losing weight when they are not trying to lose weight, this could be a warning sign of ill health and a predictor of decreased longevity.”