The importance of maintenance of body weight in humans throughout adult life to
promote good health is being increasingly recognized. While body weight can be both
lower and higher than normal, overweight has attracted more attention, and is
considered to be one of the most challenging health risks of present time. The last few
decades have seen a rapid rise in research linking increase in body weight to several
adverse effects on health due to predisposition to many diseases such as diabetes,
hypertension, chronic heart diseases, osteoarthritis, cancer, and consequent reduced
life expectancy [WHO 2000, Weiss R, Dziura J, Burgert TS et al., 2004]. A common
correlate of these conditions is the associated production of free radicals and
consequent oxidative stress.
The most common causes of increased weight are decrease in energy requirements
due to reduced physical activity and lowering of metabolic activity. In women, this
has been linked to decrease in estrogen around menopause. Weight gain has also been
observed in men but the issue of age related weight gain in relation to gender has not
received as much attention.
