Muscle bulk and older people
It is important for older people (ie age 70+) maintain muscle bulk.
Why is muscle bulk important?
Muscle bulk is important in preventing falls and helps with joint stability. Good muscle bulk is maintained through exercise and a balanced diet with adequate protein intake.
Older people should always seek advice before dieting to ensure that enough protein and micro nutrients such as calcium are included in their diet.
Being overweight after the age of 70 is not necessarily associated with cardio-metabolic conditions or death.
Older people with BMI between 25-30kg/m2 are considered to be healthy and should not be advised to lose weight unless there are other health reasons such as serious mobility or joint problems.
Ideally, weight loss should be supervised by your medical practitioner and should be combined with an exercise program. Unsupervised dieting is not advised.
For more information about maintaining good muscle bulk, please talk to your GP.