It's never too late to lose weight

Are you not hitting the gym thinking that weight loss at your age may not be of any help?

Think again as researchers have now found that weight loss at any age in adulthood is beneficial as it could yield long-term heart and vascular benefits.

"Our findings suggest that losing weight at any age can result in long-term cardiovascular health benefits, and support public health strategies and lifestyle modifications that help individuals who are overweight or obese to lose weight at all ages," said professor John Deanfield from University College London (UCL).

The study examined the impact of lifelong patterns of weight change on cardiovascular risk factors in a group of British men and women followed since birth in March 1946.

They showed that the longer the exposure to excess body fat (adiposity) in adulthood, the greater the cardiovascular-related problems in later life, including increased thickness of the carotid artery walls, raised systolic blood pressure, and increased risk of diabetes.

Adults who drop a BMI (body mass index) category - from obese to overweight, or from overweight to normal - at any time during adult life, even if they regain weight, can reduce these cardiovascular manifestations.

"Our study is unique because it followed individuals for such a long time, more than 60 years, and allowed us to assess the effect of modest, real-life changes in adiposity," Deanfield added.

The findings appeared in the journal The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.