TUESDAY, Dec. 4 (HealthDay News) -- In the quest for a longer life, a new study suggests fit is where it's at -- even if you're fat.

Overweight and obese seniors who were physically fit outlived their contemporaries -- even thin ones who weren't physically fit, the researchers said.

"Cardio-respiratory fitness is a strong determinate of mortality in older men and women," said lead researcher Steven N. Blair, a professor at the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health.

"Older individuals need to be concerned about their fitness level," Blair added. "There is perhaps too much focus on body weight, and fitness is only an afterthought."

Adequate fitness can be achieved with 30 minutes of moderate exercise each day, such as brisk walking, regardless of your weight, Blair said.

The findings are published in the Dec. 5 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

For the study, Blair's team looked at the relationship between body fat, fitness and longevity in 2,603 men and women aged 60 and older who took part in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study. During 12 years of follow-up, 450 people died.

Among overweight people in the study, 23 percent were classified as unfit, as were 53 percent of obese people, Blair said. "You really can't tell if a person is fit by looking at them," he said.

People who were fit were more than 50 percent less likely to die than unfit people, regardless of weight -- meaning overweight but fit people tended to outlive leaner people who weren't in good shape. And fit folks were less likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, Blair said.

The people who died were older, had lower fitness levels, and had more cardiovascular risk factors.

To get fit and stay fit, Blair recommends 30 minutes of moderate exercise at least five days a week. "You don't even have to do the 30 minutes all at once. Three 10-minute walks a day five days a week will get you out of this unfit category and get you at least moderately fit," he said.

One heart expert agreed that the new study highlights the importance of being physically fit.

"Numerous studies have provided evidence that physical fitness is associated with lower mortality risk," said Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow, a professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles. "Furthermore, while having increased body-mass index indicating obesity is associated with excess risk of mortality, this relationship is significantly attenuated in individuals who exercise and demonstrate good physical fitness.

"Being physically fit essentially neutralized the excess mortality risk associated with obesity whereas being unfit was independently associated with excess deaths regardless of body mass or other measures of adiposity [body fat]," Fonarow added.

More information

For more on fitness for older adults, visit the American Medical Association  .

THURSDAY, Nov. 29 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials opened a public debate Thursday on just how much salt is too much in the processed foods Americans eat.

The hearing was called in response to a request made in 2005 by the consumer advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), asking the agency to make changes to the regulatory status of salt, to require limits on salt levels in processed foods, and to require health messages related to salt and sodium on food labels.

"Very few people dispute that Americans get way too much salt from processed and restaurant foods, and that an excess promotes hypertension, stroke, heart attacks, kidney failure, and early death," CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson said in a statement. "While the FDA has historically declined to challenge companies to lower high sodium levels, it is increasingly hard for FDA officials to ignore the calls to action made in recent years by the medical community."

Testifying at the meeting, Dr. Stephen Havas, the American Medical Association's vice president for science, quality and public health, said that "the need for action is clear. The deaths attributed to excess salt consumption represents a huge toll - the equivalent of a jumbo jet with more than 400 passengers crashing every day of the year, year after year."

In a statement, Havas said that cutting the amount of salt in the American diet in half over the next decade could save 150,000 lives annually.

"Americans don't consume large amounts of salt because they request it," he said, "but often do so unknowingly because manufacturers and restaurants put it in food."

Not everyone agrees that regulation is the way to go, however.

"Americans consume too much salt," agreed Milton Stokes, a spokesman for the American Dietetic Association, which represents the nation's nutritionists. "But I don't think the idea of a sodium warning would be effective. People are confused enough. It makes people almost afraid to eat."

One food industry representative also opposes new regulation.

"The issue is really more about individual's dietary patterns and food choices," said Robert Earl, senior director of nutrition policy at the Food Products Association (FPA), a food industry lobbying group.

"We think an alternative to strict regulation of salt as a food additive [is] that you can achieve public health benefit by encouraging industry to continue its efforts to reduce salt in food products and at the same time encourage American consumers to eat according to [the federal government's] Dietary Guidelines for Americans," Earl said.

Currently, the FDA categorizes salt as "generally recognized as safe." So far, the agency has refused to change this categorization.

But at the hearing, the AMA called for the agency to revoke that status and develop regulatory measures to limit sodium in processed and restaurant foods.

The FDA is also looking for input on whether mandated product labeling is called for and whether that would, in fact, be effective.

Stokes does support limiting the amount of sodium in foods; however, he believes consumer pressure, not new FDA rules, is the most effective way to do so.

Consumers might not even notice the change, he said, especially if food companies very gradually lowered the amount of salt in their products. "It's a matter of cutting back slowly," he said.

Another expert believes things won't change until regulators take action.

"The evidence has been building up over the years about the effects of salt on blood pressure and cardiovascular disease," said Nancy Cook, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston. "FDA action is probably the only way you can achieve a reduction in sodium."

Other countries, including Finland and the United Kingdom, have had success in reducing the amount of salt in processed foods, Cook pointed out. "Food manufacturers aren't going to do it on their own," she said.

Stokes said it's not too hard to improve the American diet. "You could start by adding one more serving of fruit or vegetable a day and take the salt shaker off the table," he said. "You can also rinse canned vegetables before using -- that removes up to 40 percent of the salt."

U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend that Americans limit their salt intake to 2,300 milligrams a day. But half the population -- blacks, middle-aged or elderly people, and those with high blood pressure -- are at special risk and are advised to use only 1,500 milligrams a day.

However, the average salt intake for most Americans is about 4,000 milligrams a day, according to the CSPI.

Only a little of that salt comes from the salt shaker or home cooking. About 77 percent comes from processed and restaurant foods, the group says. Many restaurant dishes have more than one or two days' worth of salt on a single plate, according to the CSPI.

But food industry spokesman Earl said consumers can choose low-sodium options, since many products are already labeled as "low salt" or "no added salt."

"There are a variety of tools to communicate salt content," he said. "There is also a lot of effort that has gone on over decades related to slow, incremental reductions in salt content."

But salt reduction is happening in other countries, the Associated Press reported. For example, McDonald's Chicken McNuggets in the United States has more than twice as much salt as the same product in the United Kingdom, and Kellogg's Special K in the United States has 58 percent more salt in than it does in the United Kingdom, CSPI noted.

Getting rid of just a few dashes of salt a day will boost Americans' health, another expert said.

"There is no doubt that most Americans consume too much salt, and no doubt sodium excess contributes to high blood pressure, stroke and the rate of premature death," said Dr. David Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine.

"I strongly favor reductions in the sodium content of processed foods, and labeling that makes it easier for all of us to gauge and control our sodium intake," Katz said.

Still, he has his reservations when it comes to regulatory intervention. "I am less enthusiastic about reclassifying a nutrient because of the failings of the food supply at large," Katz said.

More information

For more information on cutting down on sodium, visit the American Heart Association  .

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Obesity among American adults hasn't increased much in recent years, but there are still far too many adults who are overweight, a new federal study reports.

The study, based on 2005-06 data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, found:

• More than a third of American adults (about 72 million) were obese in 2005-06. In 2005-06, 33.3 percent of men and 35.3 percent of women were obese, compared with 31.1 percent of men and 33.2 percent of women in 2003-04.
• Obesity prevalence was highest among adults ages 40-59. About 40 percent of men in this age group were obese, compared with 28 percent of men ages 20-39, and 32 percent of men 60 and older. Among women, 41 percent of those ages 40-59 were obese, compared with 30.5 percent among women ages 20-39. The obesity rate among women 65 and older was similar to that of women ages 20-39.
• Among women, there were large racial/ethnic differences in obesity rates. About 53 percent of non-Hispanic black women and 51 percent of Mexican-American women ages 40-59 were obese, compared to about 39 percent of non-Hispanic white women of the same age. Among women 60 and older, 61 percent of non-Hispanic black women were obese, compared to 37 percent of Mexican-American women and 32 percent of non-Hispanic white women.

Obesity is defined as having a body mass index (BMI, a ratio of weight to height) of 30 or greater. A person 5-feet, 7-inches tall who weighs 195 pounds has a BMI of 30.5

Obesity rates among American adults have increased over the past 25 years, but the increases seem to have slowed in recent years, experts say.

"Since 1999, there appears to have been a leveling off in obesity among women, but the trend is less clear among men. We do know however that the gap between men and women has narrowed in recent years, with men catching up to the higher rates among women," study lead author Cynthia Ogden, a researcher at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a prepared statement.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has more about adult obesity.

TUESDAY, Nov. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Black American women and Chinese women who ate foods high on the glycemic index -- which measures the effect of carbohydrates on blood glucose levels -- were at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes, two new studies found.

One of the studies also found that eating more cereal fiber may be associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes in black American women.

In one study, Boston University School of Public Health researchers examined data on more than 40,000 black American women who filled out a food questionnaire in 1995. Every two years through 2003, the women provided updates about their weight, health and other information.

During those eight years of follow-up, 1,938 of the women developed type 2 diabetes.

Women who ate high-glycemic index foods or ate a diet with a high glycemic load were more likely to develop diabetes. Women who ate more cereal fiber were less likely to develop diabetes.

"Our results indicate that black women can reduce their risk of diabetes by eating a diet that is relatively high in cereal fiber," the study authors wrote. "Incorporating fiber sources into the diet is relatively easy: A simple change from white bread (two slices provides 1.2 grams of fiber) to whole wheat bread (two slices provides 3.8 grams of fiber) ... will move a person from a low fiber intake category to a moderate intake category, with a corresponding 10 percent reduction in risk."

In the second study, researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., followed more than 64,000 Chinese women for an average of five years. During the study, 1,608 of the women developed diabetes.

High consumption of carbohydrates increased the risk of diabetes. Women who consumed the most carbohydrates (about 337.6 grams per day) had a 28 percent greater risk of developing diabetes than those who consumed the least (about 263.5 grams per day).

Women who had high glycemic index diets and who ate more food staples such as bread, noodles and rice also had an increased risk. For example, those who ate more than 300 grams of rice per day were 78 percent more likely to develop diabetes than those who ate less than 200 grams of rice per day.

"Given that a large part of the world's population consumes rice and carbohydrates as the mainstay of their diets, these prospective data linking intake of refined carbohydrates to increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus may have substantial implications for public health," the researchers concluded.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has more about type 2 diabetes.