Researchers are calling for better weight management strategies for women with a chronic disease diagnosis.
The University of Queensland’s Australian Women and Girls' Health Research (AWaGHR) Centre analysed women aged 18-23 years over 25 years to examine the pattern of weight gain during the accumulation of multiple chronic conditions.
Lead author and researcher Dr Reza Baneshi said the study found women who remained free of chronic conditions gained less weight than those with a chronic condition.
“Women diagnosed with chronic conditions experienced a slowdown in annual weight gain; however, their weight gain still exceeded that of women without any chronic condition,” Dr Baneshi said.
“Over 25 years, women who remained free of chronic conditions gained an average of 0.50 kg per year, while women who developed a single condition gained 0.54 kg annually: 0.55 before and 0.54 after diagnosis.
However, those with multimorbidity (the presence of two or more chronic conditions) experienced the highest weight gain of 0.65 kg annually: 0.75 kg before the first condition, 0.60 kg between the first and second, and 0.57 kg following the second condition.”
The research, which was published in Obesity: The Journal of The Obesity Society, used data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health from the 1973-78 cohort, which followed women from 18-23 years across 25 years to track weight change in reproductive years.
Dr Baneshi said this was the first study to investigate how weight gain varies during different phases of disease accumulation.
“Although we did see weight decline after diagnosis, women who remained free of chronic conditions gained less weight than those with a chronic condition. This shows the importance of maintaining a healthy diet and physical activity, as well as the need for better weight management tools for women with chronic disease or multi-morbidity.”
