A study published in eClinical Medicine reveals that weight gain during youth, especially before age 30, is associated with a higher risk of death from chronic and cardiovascular diseases. The research focuses on the analysis of weight trajectories throughout life.

Weight gain trends differ by age. The study shows that men tend to gain weight more rapidly in early adulthood, in contrast to women, who maintain more constant weight gain until age 29.

This finding, from the Obesity and Disease Development Sweden project, underlines the importance of weight changes in the key decades of adult life.

Association between weight gain and chronic diseases

Weight gain in early adulthood has been significantly linked to diseases such as type 2 diabetes and certain forms of cancer.

Those with accelerated weight gain are reported to have a pejorative risk of mortality greater than 69% compared to their normal counterparts.

Implications and future needs

These results highlight the urgency of implementing obesity prevention strategies from youth.

Forms of obesity in early adulthood appear to have more serious repercussions than those that develop in late adult life, suggesting the need for future studies that address influencing factors and changes in body composition.

“The most consistent finding is that weight gain at an early age is related to a higher risk of premature death in adulthood, compared to people who gain less weight,” said Tanja Stocks, a professor at Lund University and one of the researchers behind the study, in a press release.

How genetic factors affect

Genetic factors influence, but do not alone determine, obesity or chronic diseases in early adulthood. In general, genetics provide a susceptibility that can be enhanced or attenuated depending on diet, physical activity, sleep, stress and environment.

Obesity is usually a multifactorial disease: genetic variants are involved along with environmental and psychosocial factors. Some variants affect appetite regulation, energy expenditure, fat distribution and metabolic response, making certain people gain weight more easily or have more difficulty losing it.

Relationship with chronic diseases

Excess weight at an early age increases the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases earlier than expected in adult life. When there is a genetic predisposition, this risk may appear earlier or with greater intensity if sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy diet or other risk factors are added.

What is important in early adulthood

In early adulthood, genetics usually acts not as destiny, but as predisposition. This means that two people with a similar genetic load can have very different health trajectories if their habits and environment change.

In practice