Middle-aged women who are overweight or obese may reduce their risk of developing heart disease and diabetes if they manage to lose even a modest amount of weight, a new study indicates.

"It is challenging to lose weight, but if women commit to losing 10% of their body weight and sustain that over time, it can have a large impact on overall risk factors associated with heart disease and diabetes," commented Prof Cynthia Thomson of the University of Arizona in the US.

She and her team carried out a study of 417 women who were participating in weight loss programmes for up to two years. The women had an average age of 44 and an average starting weight of 200lbs.

The study found that those who lost and sustained at least 10% of their overall body weight for two years had reduced levels of ‘bad' cholesterol, reduced levels of triglycerides (a type of blood fat), better control of their glucose and insulin levels and less inflammation in their bodies.

The researchers noted that while women in short-term weight loss programmes tended to lose more weight initially, after six months, they usually started to gain it back again.

Factors that can influence weight gain in middle-aged women include repeated pregnancies, sedentary jobs and the beginning of menopause.

The researchers said that women need more support from healthcare providers when it comes to losing weight and such support ‘seems to pay off in terms of modifying risk factors for obesity-related disease'.

"The good news is that when you lose weight long-term, you just don't move to a smaller dress size, you are actually moving these risk factors markedly and likely reducing your risk of heart disease and diabetes," Prof Thomson said.

Details of these findings are published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

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