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Study: Being overweight may reduce risk of cataract formation
A recent study investigating the association between the degree of obesity and cataract formation in Korean populations found that overweight individuals had significantly lower risk of cataract formation than normal-weight individuals.
The study, which was published in Optometry and Vision Science, included 3,248 subjects 50 years and older who had not had a previous cataract operation. Body mass index was categorized into four groups: underweight (<18.5 kg/m2), normal weight (18.5 to 22.9 kg/m2), overweight (23.0 to 24.9 kg/m2) and obese (>25.0 kg/m2).
Association between the degree of obesity and cataract was evaluated using logistic regression analyses with adjustments of age, the total pack-years of cigarettes smoked, the amount of pure alcohol consumed per day, daily time spent in vigorous physical activity, diabetes mellitus, sunlight exposure, education level and income.
Compared with the normal-weight group, the overweight group had significantly lower risk of any type of cataract in men and in women in the multiple logistic regression analyses.
No unusual lifestyles or metabolic risks for explaining this low cataract prevalence in the overweight groups were found; however, nutrient intakes such as vitamin B2, niacin, vitamin C and vitamin A were highest in the overweight group and may have had an impact.