TY - JOUR T1 - Retirement and weight changes among men and women in the health and retirement study. JF - J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci Y1 - 2008 A1 - Valerie L Forman-Hoffman A1 - Kelly K Richardson A1 - Jon W. Yankey A1 - Stephen L Hillis A1 - Robert B Wallace A1 - Frederic D Wolinsky KW - Aged KW - Aging KW - Body Mass Index KW - Body Weight KW - Demography KW - depression KW - Female KW - Health Behavior KW - Health Status KW - Humans KW - Interviews as Topic KW - Male KW - Middle Aged KW - Obesity KW - Retirement AB -

OBJECTIVES: Older adults may experience weight changes upon retirement for a number of reasons, such as being less physically active; having less structured meal times; and consuming food in response to losing personal identity, the potential for social interactions, or the sense of accomplishment derived from working. The purpose of this study was to determine whether retirement was associated with either weight gain or weight loss.

METHODS: We used the 1994-2002 Health and Retirement Study to determine whether retirement between biennial interviews was associated with weight change, separately for men (n = 1,966) and women (n = 1,759). We defined weight change as a 5% increase or decrease in body mass index between interviews.

RESULT: . We did not find a significant association between retirement and weight change among men. Women who retired were more likely to gain weight than women who continued to work at least 20 hr per week (odds ratio [OR] = 1.24, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.04-1.48). We found a significant relationship between retirement and weight gain only for women who were normal weight upon retiring (OR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.01-1.69) and who retired from blue-collar jobs (OR = 1.58, 95% CI = 1.13-2.21).

DISCUSSION: Public health interventions may be indicated for women, particularly those working in blue-collar occupations, in order to prevent weight gain upon retirement.

PB - 63B VL - 63 IS - 3 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18559689?dopt=Abstract U3 - 18559689 U4 - RETIREMENT/Weight/Women ER -