Q. It’s such a struggle to keep my weight down; it seems that the closer I get to 65 the more my weight creeps up. Is that my imagination or have I just been lax about my eating habits? It’s been much more difficult to eat healthy meals since my wife died.
There’s good news and bad news. The bad news first: obesity is continuing to increase in the U.S., according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that focuses on obesity in each state. There is an interesting curve in this report that indicates Americans tend to peak in weight somewhere in their early 60s, just before they become senior citizens at age 65.
Now the good news: It is then – at about retirement age – that a rather rapid decline in weight occurs as seniors move into old age. About the same percentage of seniors age 70 or older claim to be obese as do the youngest adults – those age 18 to 29, according to the CDC’s Division of Nutrition.
Eating healthy is a daily challenge, as is the temptation to overeat. Here’s a tip from a study conducted earlier this year: Scientists recently reported results of a new clinical trial confirming that just two 8-ounce glasses of water, taken before meals, enables people to shed pounds.
“We found in earlier studies that middle-aged and older people who drank two cups of water right before eating a meal ate between 75 and 90 fewer calories during that meal,” said Brenda Davy, Ph.D., an associate professor of nutrition at Virginia Tech and senior author of the study.
“In this recent study, we found that over the course of 12 weeks, dieters who drank water before meals, three times per day, lost about 5 pounds more than dieters who did not increase their water intake,” she noted
A professional caregiving service also can help. Assistance with meal preparation and mealtime companionship are among the most requested services that Home Instead Senior Care CAREGivers provide. These professional CAREGivers, who are screened, trained, bonded and insured, also can assist with grocery shopping, transportation and errands – all tasks that help facilitate nutritious eating. Contact your local Home Instead Senior Care office today to learn more.
For more information about Home Instead Senior Care of Frederick County, visit www.homeinstead.com/627. For more information about the appetite suppression study, log on to http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2010/08/082310-cals-davy.html and for more information on obesity prevalence, including an animated map, visit www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns or www.cdc.gov/obesity.
The report is a very interesting one, and has both good and bad implications. The best thing we can do with this information is to try to adopt a healthier lifestyle so we are in better shape for the later years in life. The findings about water intake are also very interesting, and should be considered as an easy way to improve one's health. There are also many products out there designed to help seniors exercise with less pain and more comfort. Many of these make the benefits of exercising easier to achieve for those with limited mobility or flexibility.
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Firststreetinc, thanks for your comment!
ReplyDeleteHave you or someone you know experimented with increasing water intake before meals and noticed a positive result? If so, we'd like to hear about it!