Friday, 10. February 2012

:: Home > General News > Older people may benefit from being slightly overweight

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
30	31	1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	1	2	3	4

Add your event FREE

Today

Polls

15. 03. 10. - 12:00

Older people may benefit from being slightly overweight

Being slightly overweight may protect older people from potentially dangerous infections, a study by Vienna Medical University�s Institute for Social Medicine has concluded.

A team led by Thomas Dorner conducted the study. He said today (Mon): "It is known that being underweight or obese poses a higher risk for older patients. Our study is a little stone that fills in part of the mosaic."

The team analysed data about 619 residents with an average age of 87.6 at a large Vienna pensioners� home, comparing body weight to frequency of infection.

People with a body-mass index (BMI) lower than 20 had an average of 62 per cent more infections than overweight people with a BMI between 24 and 27.9.

Patients of normal weight with a BMI between 20 and 23.9 had 84 per cent more infections and the obese, with a BMI over 28, had 54 per cent more infections.

The team said "the results show both below average weight and obesity in old people�s homes lead to higher rates of infection. The most-dangerous conditions are dementia, circulatory problems and lung infections."

The study was reported in the British Journal of Nutrition.

Austrian Times

Write your comment to this article here

Tag cloud:
overweight conditions pensioners mass lung Vienna patients rates infections frequency circulatory Nutrition index British problems older weight obesity Journal slightly

Latest News

Set up tax on financial transactions soon, says Katzian
The head of the Association of Private Employees (GPA-djp) has called for a quick introduction of a tax on financial transactions.

P�hringer rejects U-turn on rightist ball
Young Social Democrats (SP�) have appealed to Upper Austrian Governor Josef P�hringer not to attend the Burschenbundball in Linz this Saturday.

FP� under fire after trip to Grozny
The Freedom Party (FP�) has been harshly criticised for meeting with Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov.

WKO boss wants pension age hike incentives
Federal Economy Chamber (WKO) President Christoph Leitl has identified attempts to raise the average retirement age as the key issue regarding Austria�s budget.

Woman and child run over in Vienna
A woman and child have died in a road accident in Vienna, Austria. The lorry driver was making a right turn when he drove into a group of pedestrians leaving a 59-year-old and a 12-year-old dead. The mother of the school girl was left with serious injuries.

Schlecker says Austrian jobs are safe
The son of Schlecker founder Anton Schlecker has claimed that the company has no plans to sell its Austrian affiliate.

SP� sees smaller parliament as key signal
The general secretary of the Social Democrats (SP�) has argued his support for a reduction of the size of the parliament.

Austrian food to feature in organic trade fair
Austria is expected to be well represented at next week�s BioFach 2012 international organic trade fair in Nuremberg, Germany. Some 90 companies and organisations from the Austrian organic good sector will feature at the fair from 15 to 18 February.

Brothel for the homeless in Vienna
Homeless people are queueing up for free rooms in an Austrian brothel after owner Peter Laskaris said it would be unfair not to do everything he could during the current cold spell.

Deep-freeze snacks for orangutans in Sch�nbrunn
The lucky orangutans who take up residence in Europe�s oldest zoo have been indulging in a twice weekly take-away. Despite the trees in Sch�nbrunn Zoo in Vienna, Austria now being completely bare the fury friends have fresh branches and leaves delivered twice a week.