ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences2017
The Importance of Mid-to-Late-Life Body Mass Index Trajectories on Late-Life Gait Speed.
Article in The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Biobehavioral pain profiling of minoritized adults with chronic widespread pain and clinical obesity before and after bariatric surgery: study protocol for a longitudinal, observational cohort study.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Examining the relevance of gait speed resiliencies to different stressors: the ARIC Study.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2026Article
- Physical Performance Changes Across Race and Region Among Black and White Older Adults.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Long-term variability in physiological measures and risk of frailty: evidence from two cohort studies.The journal of nutrition, health & aging · 2026Article
- Gait characteristics in older adults using the ProtoKinetics Zeno walkway: the atherosclerosis risk in communities (ARIC) study.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Article
- Gait Speed Reserve in the general population-based 'Good Aging in Skåne' cohort study-distribution and associated factors.GeroScience · 2025Article
- Association between gait video information and general cardiovascular diseases: a prospective cross-sectional study.European heart journal. Digital health · 2024Article
- Exploring the relationships between anthropometric indices of adiposity and physical performance in middle-aged and older Brazilian women: a canonical correlation analysis.Epidemiology and health · 2022Article
- Obesity Duration, Severity, and Distribution Trajectories and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2021Article
- Imaging-based indices of Neuropathology and gait speed decline in older adults: the atherosclerosis risk in communities study.Brain imaging and behavior · 2021Article
- Adiposity Markers as Predictors of 11-Year Decline in Maximal Walking Speed in Late Midlife.Journal of applied gerontology : the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society · 2021Article
- Weight change and risk of the foundation of National Institute of Health Sarcopenia-defined low lean mass: Data from the National Health and Nutrition examination surveys 1999-2004.Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland) · 2020Article
- Motoric cognitive risk syndrome: Integration of two early harbingers of dementia in older adults.Ageing research reviews · 2020Review
- Modifiable factors related to life-space mobility in community-dwelling older adults: results from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.BMC geriatrics · 2020Article
- Prevalence and Risk Factors Governing the Loss of Muscle Function in Elderly Sarcopenia Patients: A longitudinal Study in China with 4 Years of Follow-Up.The journal of nutrition, health & aging · 2020Article
- Midlife Body Mass Index Trajectory and Risk of Frailty 8 Years Later in Taiwan.The journal of nutrition, health & aging · 2019Article
- Predictors of gait speed and its change over three years in community-dwelling older people.Aging · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPrior studies suggest being overweight may be protective against poor functional outcomes in older adults.
methodsBody mass index (BMI, kg/m2) was measured over 25 years across five visits (1987-2011) among Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study participants (baseline Visit 1 n = 15,720, aged 45-64 years). Gait speed was measured at Visit 5 ("late-life", aged ≥65 years, n = 6,229). BMI trajectories were examined using clinical cutpoints and continuous mixed models to estimate effects of patterns of BMI change on gait speed, adjusting for demographics and comorbidities.
resultsMid-life BMI (baseline visit; 55% women; 27% black) was associated with late-life gait speed 25 years later; gait speeds were 94.3, 89.6, and 82.1 cm/s for participants with baseline normal BMI (<25), overweight (25 ≤ BMI < 30), and obese (BMI ≥ 30) (p < .001). In longitudinal analyses, late-life gait speeds were 96.9, 88.8, and 81.3 cm/s for participants who maintained normal, overweight, and obese weight status, respectively, across 25 years (p < .01). Increasing BMI over 25 years was associated with poorer late-life gait speeds; a 1%/year BMI increase for a participant with a baseline BMI of 22.5 (final BMI 28.5) was associated with a 4.6-cm/s (95% confidence interval: -7.0, -1.8) slower late-life gait speed than a participant who maintained a baseline BMI of 22.5.
conclusionBeing overweight in older age was not protective of mobility function. Maintaining a normal BMI in mid- and late-life may help preserve late-life mobility.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.