Excessive Body Weight in Older Adults

Unintentional weight loss in older adults.

Unintentional weight loss in persons older than 65 years is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The most common etiologies are malignancy, nonmalignant gastrointestinal disease, and psychiatric conditions. Overall, nonmalignant diseases are more common causes of unintentional weight loss in this population than malignancy. Medication use and polypharmacy can interfere with taste ...

Upper Body Fractures in Older Adults

Optimism, pessimism, and bias in self-reported body weight among older adults

OBJECTIVE Body mass index (BMI) and obesity (BMI ≥ 30) are often derived from self-reported weight and height; psychological dispositions may bias how participants report these physical characteristics. The present research used a large national sample of US adults to examine the correspondence between reported and measured body weight and height and to test whether optimists and pessimists mis...

Body mass index, weight loss, and mortality in community-dwelling older adults.

BACKGROUND The relationship between body mass index (BMI), weight loss, and mortality in older adults is not entirely clear. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the associations between BMI, weight loss (either intentional or unintentional), and 3-year mortality in a cohort of older adults participating in the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Study of Aging. METHODS This artic...

Excessive weight loss in athletes.

Because increasing numbers of young people are nowadays seriously committed to highly competitive sports programmes and as many coaches and athletes are aware of the advantages of reducing fatness for optimal performance in most sports there are risks that excessive voluntary weight reduction may ensue. The urge to minimise body fat may indeed lead to a pathological degree of food and fatness a...