Almost 80% of Irish people over the age of 50 are overweight or obese, a new report has revealed.

According to the findings, 43% of people over 50 are overweight, while a further 36% are obese.

Furthermore, based on waist measurements, 52% of those over 50 are what is termed as ‘centrally obese' - in other words, they have a ‘substantially increased' waist circumference, while 25% have an ‘increased' waist circumference.

Central obesity, sometimes referred to as abdominal obesity, is known to significantly increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases, such as angina, heart failure and stroke.

Furthermore, high blood pressure is diagnosed in twice as many older adults with central obesity as those with a normal waist circumference, while diabetes is fours times more common in the centrally obese.

The report was released by the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), a national study of over 8,000 people aged 50 and older. The research is being lead by a team at Trinity College Dublin (TCD).

It pointed out that as well as increased cardiovascular risks, obesity is also associated with a greater prevalence of a number of other conditions, such as chronic pain, asthma and arthritis, especially in women.

Currently, around 25% of normal weight women have arthritis, but among those with obesity, this figures rises to 44%.

Not surprisingly, the report noted that obese people tend to visit their GP more often and take more medication than non-obese people. Obese people are also more likely to report polypharmacy - the use of five or more medications at any one time.

A study carried out by Safefood in 2012 estimated that overweight and obesity costs Ireland €1.3 billion a year as a result of increased health service utilisation, premature mortality and work absenteeism.

According to TILDA research fellow, Dr Siobhan Leahy, this is the first study to look specifically at obesity in Irish people aged over 50.

"The proportion of over 50s in Ireland who are overweight or obese is significantly higher than that of the general adult population in Ireland. While this age group is already more likely to be affected by age-related illness, frailty and cardiovascular disease, these conditions are exacerbated by the presence of obesity and significantly higher levels of disease and disability are evident in obese individuals," she noted.

She said that these findings highlight ‘the combined impact of the obesity crisis and a rapidly ageing population on health and health service demand'.

This was backed up by TILDA research director, Dr Anne Nolan, who pointed out that the Irish health service is already attempting to deliver more services with fewer resources.

"The finding that obesity is associated with a significantly higher use of health services is a cause for concern. A greater focus on health promotion and prevention is required to not only improve population health and wellbeing, but also to ensure the future sustainability of our health system," she said.