WHY WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT?

Until today, the answer was clear: to reduce cardiovascular risk and diabetes. A new study assessing the mortality of those who lost weight or not, refines this logic ??

For many years, the fight against overweight is one of public health actions. Indeed, excess weight is associated with increased cardiovascular risk and type 2 diabetes, noone can thus expect that weight loss in obese subjects is associated with improved cardiovascular profile, reduced risk of diabetes and decreased mortality.

This is true for those with cardiovascular actual risk (hypertension, cholesterol and / or triglycerides, fasting glucose greater than 1.10 g / l). However, for overweight subjects, showing no effective cardiovascular risk, weight loss or fat increases mortality, whereas weight maintenance is beneficial.

Excess mortality has been evaluated in a population of nearly 3,000 overweight or obese subjects with no cardiovascular risk. The authors divided the volunteers into groups according to their intention to lose weight and the actual weight loss achieved. They note as well as weight loss, intentional or not, has no effect on mortality at six. Thus, people who have lost weight and those who have taken have excess mortality by 43% and 46% respectively, compared to those who maintained a stable weight. And it is precisely the subjects who intended to lose weight, but the weight remained stable, which have the lowest mortality. As for the higher mortality is observed among subjects who lost weight intentionally. And this, even compared to people who lost weight unintentionally.

The authors state that compared to the physical practice, caloric restriction does not reduce long-term excess mortality associated with overweight in the absence of cardiovascular objective risk factor.

To explain this phenomenon, several assumptions are made: weight loss could result in the release of toxic substances from adipose tissue, or be associated with different biological effects, some positive, others negative.

In practice, the priority for overweight people is no longer growing. Then, if you want to lose weight for personal reasons, it is better to do it with tracking a healthcare professional.

In conclusion, the research must continue. But in parallel, the development of overweight prevention is essential and urgent! Recall that in ten persons are obese, while one in three has a overweight. Plus 41% of more than fifteen years are affected by overweight or obese. And this phenomenon is increasing. If nothing is done, We will have 20% obese in 2020.