Literature Review on Overweight, Weight Loss, and Aging: NRSG266, ACU

This report is a literature review that examines the relationship between overweight, weight loss, and aging, particularly in the elderly population. The review synthesizes research findings on obesity, calorie restriction, and their effects on health and longevity. It explores key themes such as adipose tissue expansion, body composition changes, and the controversies surrounding interventions for healthy aging. The report analyzes three articles, highlighting areas of agreement and disagreement, research designs, and strengths and weaknesses of the studies. The findings suggest that calorie restriction and exercise lead to weight loss, but disagreements exist regarding the best indicators of overweight and the long-term outcomes of interventions. The review emphasizes the importance of further research with larger sample sizes and extended follow-up periods to establish sustained lifestyle changes for optimal health in the elderly. This review contributes to the understanding of healthy aging and provides recommendations for future research and practice.

Running head: OVERWEIGHT, WEIGHT LOSS AND AGEING 1
Overweight, Weight Loss and Ageing
Name
Institutional Affiliation

OVERWEIGHT, WEIGHT LOSS AND AGEING 2
OVERWEIGHT, WEIGHT LOSS AND AGEING
Introduction
The topic chosen for this review is "overweight, weight loss and aging.” This review is
written to understand the status of knowledge on how aging is affected by both overweight and
weight loss. This is review is important since it will ensure that gap in the literature on healthy
aging so that the elderly (like the Frederic case) can be well cared for in terms of controlling
overweight and improving on weight loss. This is important since it will help come up with the
best strategies to control, prevent and manage obesity hence ensuring healthy aging. The scope
of this literature review is to cover overweight, weight loss and aging topic.
The aspects of this topic to be discussed include obesity and related consequences to
aging; calorie restriction in overweight elderly people or whether benefits exceed the possible
risk and controversies in weight loss in obese seniors (65+ years). The structure of this review
starts by presenting summary/synthesis and then evaluation of literature which focuses on
analysis and comparison of the sources provided. Specifically, the structure of this review will be
theme-based.
The first section addresses the historical background (outstanding research, seminal
events or researcher linked this topic), and then section 2 details the themes or concepts in
research findings and conclusions. The third section details the relationship or patterns linked to
the topic that is evident crossways the articles. The fourth section gives the areas of agreements
or disagreements on the topic and then section five gives information on approaches to research
design and the last section highlights the strengths and weaknesses in the research articles.
Literature Review
Historical Background

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The topic has increasingly appealed to researchers. The most outstanding research on the
topic was done by Jura & Kozak (2016). The authors brought together the evidence that aged-
associated changes in the distribution of body fat and metabolism could be fundamental variables
of the vicious cycle which might hasten the aging process alongside the age-linked illnesses.
This study helped in the developing of literature in the topic as it proposed the need for
determining how insulin resistance emerges and how it might be reversed because the authors
discovered that visceral obesity, usually evident during the aging process, remains a key driver of
insulin resistance alongside metabolic syndrome. Thus, this study stood outstanding since it
helps recommend the use of old animals rather small animals when undertaking studies on the
topic to help understand the impact of aging on the people's age span.
Themes or Concepts
The major themes and concepts from the literature include ageing; adipose tissue and
obesity; ageing and metabolic contributors to ageing; adipose tissue expansion (Jura & Kozak,
2016); changes in body weight, benefits and risks of obesity in old age, body composition with
ageing (Locher et al., 2016); and feasibility and long-run weight loss maintenance (Waters, Ward
& Villareal, 2013). Jura & Kozak (2016) synthesized the literature about adipocyte biology and
how it is influenced by obese condition and process of aging.
The studies effectively identified the common sub-phenotypes which showcase
interactions/cofounding behavior when obese status remains overlaid on condition of aging. The
attempt at the identification of a central regulatory mechanism unavoidably culminated in
consideration of insulin resistance as a function of aging and obese conditions. This theme or
concept was appropriate to be focused on by (Jura & Kozak, 2016) since it remained unexplored
in the previous studies yet it helped identify increasing visceral obesity commonly observed in

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the course of the process of aging as a key driver of insulin resistance alongside metabolic
syndrome.
It was also effective for Jura & Kozak (2016) to understand the concept of adipose tissue
expansion since the expandability hypothesis posit that when adipose tissue hits its capacity for
fat storage, the deterioration of insulin sensitivity ensues. Thus the authors helped emphasized
the importance of adipose tissue in regulating systemic energy homeostasis and hence suggested
the need to study genes that control size and expandability of adipocytes alongside genes that
control their regulation to identify new targets to prevent excess body fat. Jura & Kozak (2016)
thus helped us understood that the need to study the influence of dysregulation of genes
associated with adipose tissue expansion and ECM comparison in adipose tissue on the systemic
metabolic condition which is not being explored.
Locher et al. (2016) focused on benefits alongside risks of obesity in seniors, alterations
in body composition and body weight with aging to help understand whether benefits of the
concept of restricting calorie in overweight elderly overweigh the potential risks. This theme was
effective since it meant to justify the need for calorie restriction as a strategy to deal with obesity
and healthy aging.
The authors disapproved the conventional reliance on BMI as the best indicator of fatness
or obesity and indicated that it is problematic, specifically in elderly people since the body
composition changes which underestimate fatness alongside weight loss overestimate fatness.
Thus, this finding was effective since it identified the literature gap to come up with the best
indicator of changes in weight and body composition with aging for proper interventions.
Relationship or Patterns

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Across the three articles under review, it was evident that all of them focused on
understanding the impact of weight loss and overweight on aging amongst the elderly. They also
focused on some common concepts and themes to understand the topic. For instance, they also
reviewed the controversies surrounding certain interventions to ensure healthy aging amongst the
elderly. The three articles also reviewed common articles on the topic that have used RCTs to
provide the current status of knowledge on the topic and suggested how best the gaps can be
studied for the benefits of the elderly people in the society.
Areas of Agreements or Disagreements
The controversies and consensus in the literature exist. For example, there is a consensus
across the literature that obesity is more prevalent amongst the elderly (over 65 years) than in
young people. However, Locher et al. (2016) have identified some controversies in the literature.
While studies have reported on outcomes linked to obesity interventions in elderly people with
an emphasis on body composition, physical function, and cardio-metabolic biomarkers which
outlined several interventions including comprised exercise-solely interventions/single-arm
studies, there have been disagreements.
These controversies surround ascertaining whether the calorie restriction addition to the
exercise intervention enhances outcomes without triggering harm. Thus, it was effective for
Locher et al. (2016) to undertake a thorough review to establish whether the benefits of
restricting calories outweigh the risk. Locher et al. (2016) addressed this controversy and noted
the need for complementary effectiveness research to establish how efficiently the elderly people
can implement decreased calorie diets and how safely seniors can do such interventions utilizing
community-oriented settings and resources.

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Waters, Ward & Villareal (2013) study verified that weight loss of nearly ten percent is
accomplishable via restriction of calorie and engaging in exercise amongst sedentary, frail, obese
elderly people aged sixty-five years and above.
Approaches to Research Design
The studies used effective research designs. The three studies under review used the
systematic review focusing on RCTs in obese elderly aged 65+ years. The use of RCT studies
was effective to give the empirical information on the topic hence clear understanding of the
obesity, weight loss and aging to help recommend how best the case scenario can be addressed.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The strength of this literature review is in the provision of the present status of
knowledge about calorie restriction in seniors, the inclusion of articles with info about aerobic
exercise and resistance training, and utilizing a quasi-experimental search strategy in locating
articles Locher et al., 2016). The weakness of this review is on the variations in studies along
with various significant methodological domains which might influence the results including
constituents of physical activity arm /to exercise alongside calorie/dietary restriction arm being
different and the variation in the length of the interventions (Locher et al., 2016).
In reference to the case scenario, the literature review synthesis shows that the topic
"overweight, weight loss, and aging" will significantly assist the client (Fredric Arum, 78) make
the decisions regarding the actions to take to promise his healthy aging. This is because the
review has confirmed that there is evidence pointing towards better outcomes by implementing
all the four actions suggested by the General Practitioner.
Conclusion

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The main topic under this review was "overweight, weight loss and aging.” The main
agreements in the literature are that restricting calorie and engaging in exercise or physical
activities lead to weight loss amongst the elderly. However, the disagreements exist on how to
ascertain whether these interventions lead to better outcomes amongst the elderly. Another
disagreement is the use of BMI as the indicator of the overweight since other studies have
disapproved it despite being the common indicator amongst many studies.
The areas for further studies is the need for sufficient sample size accompanied by
relevant controls alongside long follow-up periods to establish how best to accomplish sustained
lifestyle alteration linked to optimal health results in frail, obese elderly people. Overall, this
topic should become the priority for studies on public health research because the 65+ age group
represents the quickest growing population segment, and with high obesity prevalence.

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References
Jura, M., & Kozak, L. P. (2016). Obesity and related consequences to aging. Age, 38(1), 23.
Locher, J. L., Goldsby, T. U., Goss, A. M., Kilgore, M. L., Gower, B., & Ard, J. D. (2016).
Calorie restriction in overweight older adults: Do benefits exceed potential
risks?. Experimental gerontology, 86, 4-13.
Waters, D. L., Ward, A. L., & Villareal, D. T. (2013). Weight loss in obese adults 65 years and
older: a review of the controversy. Experimental gerontology, 48(10), 1054-1061.