Most Weight Regained by Older Women Is Fat, Study Finds

(HealthDay News) -- Some weight regain is common after weight loss, but in older women many of those regained pounds return as fat mass rather than muscle mass, according to a new study.

How this affects strength and health needs further study, but experts said the findings underscore the downside of so-called yo-yo dieting.

The study included 78 women, average age 58, who had lost about 25 pounds during a previous diet study. Looking at data on the regainers, the researchers found a change in body composition.

"A third of the weight lost was muscle," said Dr. Barbara Nicklas, a gerontologist at the J. Paul Sticht Center on Aging and Rehabilitation at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C.

"The proportion of weight they gained [back] as muscle was 20 percent." That left them with more fat and less muscle.

The researchers evaluated the women's body weight, lean mass and fat mass before the diet, right after weight loss, and six and 12 months later. At one year, the researchers zeroed in on 68 women for whom complete records were available. Fifty-two (76 percent) had regained some weight, including 11 who weighed more than at the study's start. Sixteen were still losing weight. Read more...

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