New research suggests weight during adolescence may play a role in how quickly the body ages By Kristen Dalli of ConsumerAffairs September 28, 2026 A long-term study found a connection between higher BMI during adolescence and faster biological aging later in life.Researchers followed thousands of people for decades and used genetic data and DNA-based measures to study the relationship.The findings suggest that higher BMI during the teen years may contribute to faster biological aging, although the researchers say more work is needed.Getting older on the calendar and aging biologically aren't necessarily the same thing. While chronological age simply counts the years someone has been alive, biological aging looks at how quickly the body appears to be aging based on changes happening at the cellular level.A new study published in the International Journal of Obesity suggests that having a higher body mass index (BMI) during adolescence may be associated with faster biological aging later in life.The researchers were particularly interested in whether genetics and weight during the teenage years could help explain differences in how quickly people biologically age. The study doesn't mean that a person's BMI determines exactly how quickly they will age, but it adds to research looking at how weight earlier in life may be connected to health decades later.Our findings suggest that genetic predisposition to high body mass index is associated with accelerated biological aging, Doctoral Researcher Anni Pitknen said in a news release. Part of this association may be explained by the fact that the inherited predisposition is reflected in higher adolescent BMI.How did researchers study the connection?The researchers used information from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study, a long-running study that began in 1980. The participants included 3,596 people who were between ages 3 and 18 when the study began, and researchers followed them through 20182020.For the analysis, researchers looked at BMI measurements taken during adolescence, including measurements at ages 9, 12, 15, and 18. They also examined participants' genetic predisposition to having a higher BMI using genetic information involving hundreds of variants associated with body weight.To estimate biological aging, researchers analyzed DNA methylation from blood samples. They used two "epigenetic clocks" computer-based tools that estimate biological aging based on changes to DNA. The researchers also used a statistical technique called Mendelian randomization to examine whether genetically predicted BMI might have a causal relationship with biological aging.What did the study find?The researchers found that… [TheTopNews] Read More.
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