May 11 is World Obesity Day. Obesity has become a global public health problem, with more than half of the continent's adult population now overweight or obese. Obesity increases the risk of a range of diseases, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea and pestilence, which can affect everyone's health and place a huge financial burden on everyone.
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When it comes to obesity, many people feel this way: once you cross the threshold of 25 years old, weight management seems to become an uphill battle, fat quietly accumulates, and the body line is no longer as tight as it used to be.
This can't help but make people wonder, could it be that the body has quietly set a "fortune boundary" after the age of 25? Is age really an invisible yardstick that separates slim and bloated? Is it possible to let go of eating before the age of 25?
Is there really an "age cut-off" for getting fat?
I have to say that there is really an "age dividing line" for getting fat. According to the global obesity research, for the vast majority of people, their weight will increase year by year in youth and middle age.
A survey in the United States shows that the overall obesity rate of people in the teenage period is relatively low. But as an adult, obesity rates begin to increase. The data shows that at the age of 18~24, the obesity rate is the lowest, only 22.4%, but the age of 25 is a watershed, from the age of 25, the obesity rate begins to soar, and the 45~74 years old stage is the highest obesity rate.
The horizontal axis is the age group, and the vertical axis is the proportion of obese people, and it can be seen that the obesity rate has soared significantly after the age of 25
A Chinese study (figure below) shows that the overall prevalence of overweight and obesity will vary in different age groups, basically starting from the age of 24~29, the obesity rate increases; It peaks in middle-aged men (55~59 years) and older women (65~69 years).
But when exactly do we start gaining weight? There is no particularly clear boundary between this, no one can tell how old it is, and there are great differences between different people. But in general, as we get older, we gain weight.
Why is it easy to gain weight when you get older?
Many people will say that when they are young, they will not get fat no matter how much they eat, and when they are older, they will become fat if they eat a little more. Comparing my previous photos, I often sigh: time is a pig-killing knife. Why is it that the older you get, the more likely you are to gain weight?
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As I get older, I eat better and more
The biggest change is that as you get older, you generally have better living conditions and eat better and more.
When they are young, most people usually eat less because of life, economic and other problems. But as I get older, the economic conditions begin to improve, the standard of living is also better, and the diet will also change a lot, and I will eat more and more, better and better, plus many people will socialize more, and big fish and meat will become commonplace. If you eat too many high-energy foods, your energy intake will also increase, and you will naturally be more likely to gain weight.
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As we age, we get less exercise
When you are young, in school and at work, most of them will often be active, think about whether you play basketball and soccer are all when you are young?
But as I get older, whether it's work or study, I rarely have time to exercise. Most people are also accustomed to a long, sedentary lifestyle, or sit in front of a computer screen for a long time to work, and even if they have a little time to rest, they would rather lie down and play on their phones, watch dramas, and not want to move around for hours. There is less activity, let alone a workout at the gym.
If you eat more and exercise less, you can't consume energy, and it's easier to gain weight.
3
The older you get, the more muscle you lose and your metabolic rate decreases
As people age, their muscle mass decreases with age, and about 10~15% of their muscles are lost between the ages of 20~50.
Muscle mass directly determines the basal metabolism of the person, muscle tissue is the largest consumer of glucose in the human body, and the loss of it means that a large amount of glucose in the body has no place to consume, and the energy metabolism rate will be greatly reduced. Eating the same food, there may be more energy stored in the body, leading to weight gain.
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And, as we age, our fat metabolism also begins to change. A study that followed the changes in lipid turnover in 54 individuals for 13 years found that the lipid turnover rate of adipose tissue decreased with age, whether weight loss or gain.
Lipid turnover rate refers to the rate at which lipids in fat cells are removed and stored. A decrease in lipid turnover means that the metabolism of fat in the body slows down, which makes weight gain easier, even if we don't eat more or exercise less than before. In the study, participants who did not deliberately diet were found to gain an average of 20% weight as they aged.
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Hormonal changes in the body make it easy for people to gain weight
Hormones are chemical messengers for various metabolic reactions in the body, regulating changes in most bodily functions. As we age, hormones in the body also change, which can also lead to a person becoming more likely to become fat.
For example, as men age, testosterone decreases at a rate of 1%~2% per year. Testosterone regulates fat distribution and affects muscle mass. Its reduction will greatly reduce the body's fat-burning efficiency. As women age, estrogen levels also decline, and during menopause, estrogen will also decline significantly, which can easily lead to the accumulation of belly fat.
How to prevent gaining weight?
In fact, what we want to lose weight is not to lose bones, muscles, and body water, but to lose fat. Because too much fat increases the risk of disease and also makes our figure bloated.
If you only pursue weight loss, without reducing the proportion of body fat, or even cause muscle loss, you will reduce your metabolic rate and form a physique that is difficult to lose weight and easy to gain weight, which is contrary to the fundamental goal of weight loss. Whereas, fat loss is a slow process. It is also destined that any method that wants to lose weight quickly will not stand the test of time.
So how do I fight against time and stay in shape?
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Rational feasting
Diet is a top priority. After all, the basic principle of gaining weight is an imbalance in the energy budget – energy intake is greater than energy expenditure, and excess energy is stored in the body.
So, to prevent weight gain, you must first reverse your energy budget and avoid consuming too much energy – which is often referred to as keeping your mouth shut. It is necessary to develop long-term healthy and reasonable eating habits, such as not eating too much, eating less high-energy foods such as high-oil and high-sugar foods, drinking less sugary drinks, and eating less fried foods. You may wish to start according to the recommendations of the Chinese Residents' Dietary Pagoda to arrange your daily diet, and gradually form a habit to stick to it.
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Keep moving
This is the hardest part of the weight loss process, but it's also the most effective.
Exercising more is also multifaceted to the health of the body. As you get older, your muscles will slowly decrease, you will accumulate more and more fat, and your metabolism will also decrease. Exercising more can increase energy expenditure, avoid excessive fat accumulation in the body, and speed up the turnover of adipose tissue.
Moreover, exercising more can also increase the content of muscle in the body and improve the body's energy metabolism. Therefore, it is important to exercise every day, at least three times a week for more than half an hour.
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Remind everyone that there is no shortcut to losing weight, and everyone should be prepared for a long battle on the road to weight control. Losing weight is a lifelong event, and it is necessary to fight for IQ, rationality, mentality, and self-discipline.
bibliography
[1] Report on the Status of Nutrition and Chronic Diseases in China (2020)
[2] Mi Zhou, Nanbo Zhu, Canqing Yu, Huaidong Du, Yun Lü, Yu Guo, Zheng Bian, Yunlong Tan, Pei Pei, Junshi Chen, Zhengming Chen, Liming Li, on behalf of the Collaborative Group of the China Prospective Research Project on Chronic Diseases. Analysis of the current situation of adult weight change in Chinese population[J]. Chinese Journal of Epidemiology, 2019, 40(5): 510-514
[3] https://www.wihealthatlas.org/obesity/age
[4] Chen K, Shen Z, Gu W, Lyu Z, Qi X, Mu Y, Ning Y; Meinian Investigator Group. Prevalence of obesity and associated complications in China: A cross-sectional, real-world study in 15.8 million adults. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2023 Aug 17. doi: 10.1111/dom.15238. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37589256.
[5] https://www.intechopen.com/books/muscle-cell-and-tissue/lifestyle-and-aging-effects-in-the-development-of-insulin-resistance-activating-the-muscle-as-strate#B20
[6] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-019-0565-5
[7] https://www.sohu.com/a/431722895_653813
Planning and production
Author丨Ruan Guangfeng, Deputy Director of Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center
Review丨Zhang Yu is a researcher/doctor at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and a national health science popularization expert
Planning丨Lin Lin
Editor-in-charge丨He Tong
Reviewer丨Xu Lai, Lin Lin