Eating your avocado toast for breakfast may prevent you from ever being able to afford a new home, but it might also help to prevent middle-age spread.
While we put on an average of about half to one kilogram a year from early adulthood through middle age, the spread is not inevitable and we can keep it off by cultivating four simple habits according to new research by the University of Tasmania.
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Exercise to offset sitting risks
It's not as hard as it sounds if you follow these new guidelines that might even extend your life expectancy.
Weight gain can be the result of genetics as well as eating more and doing less, said the study's authors from UTas' Menzies Institute for Medical Research. To counter this, and the various health risks associated with weight-gain (cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, arthritis and some cancers), certain behaviours are promoted: 'eat breakfast', 'limit takeaway and fast food to once per week', 'watch television less than two hours per day' and 'take at least 10,000 steps per day'.
But, the authors say, until now there is little research to say whether adopting these habits actually prevents middle-age spread.
For the study, published in the journal BMC Public Health, the researchers followed 1150 participants aged between 26 and 36 for five years. They tracked their weight, gave them pedometers to measure their steps and grouped them based on questionnaires assessing how well they followed the recommendations over that period of time.
After adjusting for other lifestyle factors they found that the average weight gain across the group at five years was two kilograms, while about a quarter put on more than five kilograms and about 10 per cent lost the same amount.
"Participants who developed unhealthy behaviours during the 5-year period (met the guideline at baseline but not at follow-up) tended to have the greatest weight gain," the paper's authors said. Weight gain increased as the number of guidelines met decreased.
"Participants who adopted healthier behaviours between baseline and follow-up (did not meet the guideline at baseline but met at follow-up) had similar weight gain to those who consistently met the guidelines."
Consistently skipping breakfast was associated with greater weight gain in this study as was regularly eating takeaway foods and watching television for two or more hours per day, which the authors suggested may be because of additional snacking or distracted eating while watching TV, as well as TV time replacing physical activity time.
However, of the four behaviours, taking less than 10,000 steps a day was the guideline that was least likely to be met and the guideline associated with the greatest weight gain.
The authors concluded that their findings show it's never too late to change and that adopting simple healthy habits can lessen the likelihood of middle-age spread and the associated health risks.
"Meeting simple dietary, sedentary behaviour and physical activity guidelines was associated with less weight gain over 5 years in these young adults," they wrote. "Among the 13 to 16 per cent of individuals who adopted healthier behaviours, weight gain was similar to those who met the guidelines at both time points, indicating the benefits of behaviour change in this age group."
Lead researcher Dr Kylie Smith added: "Weight gain is common among young adults so here are four simple things to consider. Our analysis clearly shows the association between the behaviours and weight gain."