Study Finds Weight Charts Are Far From Ideal Women Should Weigh Much Less Than Thought For Healthy Hearts
Middle-aged women should weigh far less than most people think, and than the government recommends, in order to have healthy hearts, Harvard researchers say.
New findings from a study of more than 115,000 nurses strongly indicate that U.S. weight guidelines are too lax and encourage obesity in both men and women, the researchers say.
“We found that about 40 percent of all heart attacks that occur in middle-aged women are due to overweight,” said Dr. JoAnn E. Manson, co-director of women’s health at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. She said similar results are found in men.
The study showed that women of average weight had about a 50 percent higher risk of heart attack than women who were 15 percent less than average U.S. weights.
And women who gained 10 or fewer pounds in early to middle adulthood had the lowest risk of heart attacks, the researchers reported in today’s issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.
For instance, a 5-foot-6-inch woman had the lowest risk if she weighed less than 130 pounds. At the same height, a weight of 130 to 142 pounds carried a 20 percent higher risk. At 142 to 155 pounds, it was 50 percent higher; at 155 to 180 pounds, it was double; and at more than 180 pounds, it was 3 1/2 times higher than for the 130-pound woman.
“I don’t want to be scaring people with these findings, but we have been overly complacent about obesity and weight gain in adults,” Manson said Monday.
The federal government in 1990 revised its guidelines upward for desirable weights, saying Americans over age 35 could be significantly heavier than under 1985 guidelines.
The 1990 revisions were based on life insurance data that failed to account for the fact that many lean people were smokers or had lifeshortening illnesses, Manson said.
“The current federal weight guidelines are in a sense encouraging the fattening of America,” Manson said, noting that one in three adults is obese. “They’re recommending weights that are at least 15 percent higher than the optimal weights for health.”
While cautioning against overreaction to the findings, she recommended increasing physical activity, lowering the fat content and calorie content of the diet and eating more fruits, vegetables and grains.
xxxx Your ideal weight An easy rule to remember for estimating ideal body weight, consistent with findings of the Harvard study: For women, 100 pounds for a height of 5 feet, with 5 additional pounds for each added inch of height. For men, 106 pounds for a height of 5 feet, and 6 additional pounds for every added inch of height. These ideals may vary by plus or minus 10 percent. - Associated Press