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Over 50's club

1 lurker | 325 watchers

Velociraptor Aug 2023 11:06am, 31 Aug 2023 65,137 posts	Quote Pin Velociraptor Yes, the optimal BMI for survival in older folk appears quite consistently to be around 26-28.
Derby Tup Aug 2023 11:14am, 31 Aug 2023 61,038 posts	Quote Pin Derby Tup I am in that area I think (I haven't weighed myself for many years) #liveforever
Dvorak Aug 2023 11:25am, 31 Aug 2023 27,197 posts	Quote Pin Dvorak I am currently ideal then. I just have to maintain that for another 17 years. Although on other measures (waist, waist to hip, waist to height) I'm counting as chunky. Although if I went by my jeans size I'm not, which suggests I may be even worse, as my fat is stored abdominally. And always has been, for the last 40 years or so. Whatever weight I've been (and it has been a lot lot less, even in adult life). I've been looking into this a bit (maybe too much, my version of doomscrolling) and there's a long term large scale American study, which suggests, perhaps unsurprisingly, that as people age, on average they weigh more (although within that, there is a large amount of variation, and some do not increase in weight). The study also correlated weight gain against changes in lifestyle. The worst things you can do are eat more crisps and chips, and watch a lot more tv. The best thing is eat more yoghurt.
Velociraptor Aug 2023 11:33am, 31 Aug 2023 65,138 posts	Quote Pin Velociraptor I quite appreciated a study in the Christmas BMJ many years ago that correlated enjoyment of one's food with longevity irrespective of weight.
Eynsham Red Aug 2023 11:34am, 31 Aug 2023 9,899 posts	Quote Pin Eynsham Red Yes, the optimal BMI for survival in older folk appears quite consistently to be around 26-28. I’m 67 with a BMI of 21.4 so should I start pigging out to increase to this optimal band?
Dvorak Aug 2023 11:46am, 31 Aug 2023 27,198 posts	Quote Pin Dvorak Interesting question. Maybe you could do some serious weights (whilst at all time avoiding injury, of course). I wonder if the above mentioned food enjoyment paradigm will now collapse under the sensory onslaught of taste-engineered non-satiating calorie-dense nutrition-poor high added sugar ultraprocessed foods.
um Aug 2023 11:49am, 31 Aug 2023 7,678 posts	Quote Pin um I've always considered mysef too short for my weight, but v'rap has now taught me that being too short is actually extending my life. At least, that's my take from her post. And I do enjoy food.
Dave W Aug 2023 3:24pm, 31 Aug 2023 14,238 posts	Quote Pin Dave W On another related note, I once knew a bloke who knew a bloke whose Granddad smoked 180 full strength Marlboro's a day, and it never did him any harm (killed a lot of the folk around him mind). Same as the "I knew a fat bloke who lived 'til he was 106". There are always outliers, but I think it's difficult to argue against the fact that obesity carries with it significant health risks, for a large proportion of people.
Velociraptor Aug 2023 3:29pm, 31 Aug 2023 65,147 posts	Quote Pin Velociraptor I actually knew someone who smoked 60 a day and died in his early nineties of something unrelated. Just one, in my entire working lifetime. Though my Aunt Margaret is doing not too badly, lifetime smoker and still independent at 89 (and weighs around 5 stone).
Derby Tup Aug 2023 3:34pm, 31 Aug 2023 61,040 posts	Quote Pin Derby Tup Pies and cigarettes - they are the truth