As a physician concerned with the significant impact of obesity health, it is my mission to encourage children and adults to take control of their own lifestyle choices.
– Margaret Cuomo
Aging in Place
Here is an excerpt from my book. Women, Aging and Myths: 10 Steps to Loving Your Long Life. This is relevant for aging in place “independence.”
Women, Aging and Health
Many of our disease states, especially in the elderly, have gone from acute, such as pneumonia ( the “old man’s friend”) which killed in a matter of weeks—to chronic; not cured but managed over long periods of time. We tend to see acute exacerbations of chronic conditions such as congestive heart failure, diabetes, or COPD, over and over again. The diseases that drastically shortened lifespans in the past are now the cause of multiple hospitalizations and caregiver-burnout. In the parlance of medical slang we called them “frequent flyers” and they actually get to be well known by staff as they come in for periodic “tune-ups.”
So many of the chronic conditions we blame on aging have nothing to do with getting older. These fall under the category of “secondary agers” or the things we do to ourselves to speed up the aging process. As the saying goes; our biography eventually becomes our biology—how we live will determine in large part, how we age. Two such conditions that are often inter-related are obesity and arthritis.
Researchers at Duke University Medical School found that obesity and arthritis begin for women in the childbearing and perimenopause years caused by weight gain. In addition the study showed the women were more likely than men to experience fractures, vision problems and bronchitis. “Women have a natural tendency to gain more weight than men over the lifespan but may be more motivated to maintain a healthy weight if they realize that those extra pounds make it more likely that they will be disabled in later years – potentially becoming a burden to their children or requiring a nursing home. This is important because it suggests that women’s tendency to pack on extra pounds in their childbearing and perimenopause years translates into loss of independence in their old age.”
– Heather Whitson, M.D. (Assistant Professor of Medicine)
Women’s Chronic Diseases Translates to Loss of Independence
In 2007-2008, the prevalence of obesity was 32.2% among adult men and 35.5% among adult women (see JAMA: Obesity Trends). Nearly 3 in 4 adults in the U.S. today (2025) are considered overweight or have obesity, according to a 2024 study published in the medical journal The Lancet. Essentially, one third of us are obese, which is defined as a BMI of 30.0 or higher (yes they are rethinking the BMI as a measure of health). Despite all the information concerning the health effects of being overweight, many continue down that path.
Obesity among young Americans is a serious problem that can have serious ramifications in the long run.
-Virginia Foxx
Each day we are faced with countless “choice points” about our lives; to take the stairs, order the light lunch, or stop at one dessert. These choice points have an accumulative effect—if we make the hard choices now, life can get easier later. If we make the easy choices now, life will get harder later on—and with each decision our future independence hangs in the balance.
Consider this, at 42lbs “over-weight,” you’re negotiating stairs, bathtubs, kitchens, and chores like yard work, carrying the equivalent of 3 average size bowling balls!
Think what that does to:
- Your energy level
- Your cardiovascular system (extra vessels to feed all that adipose tissue = extra work loads your heart)
- Your skeletal system (knees, hips, back)
Just to mention a few systems affected…
What’s misuse or disuse, and what’s normal aging? Losing 42lbs means not being burdened by 3 bowling balls! How might that improve your odds of aging in place successfully?
There are all kinds of home modifications, high tech gadgets, and wonderful universal design products available on the market which can facilitate independence—some are reasonably priced, some expensive, and some even priceless–but none as effective as mindful living and making choices that will honor your future independence.
See
Excess body weight includes the terms ‘overweight’ and ‘obesity.’ Having excess body weight is clearly linked to an overall increased risk of cancer. According to research from the American Cancer Society, about 5% of cancers in men and about 11% of cancers in women in the United States are linked to having excess body weight. Excess body weight is also linked with about 7% of all cancer deaths.
The “healthy” body mass index (BMI) ranges from 18.5 to 24.9. However, BMI is not a one-size-fits-all concept.
American Obesity Rates Are Increasing. Here’s How You Can Maintain A Healthy Weight/2025
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