2025 UKARFF Early-career Researchers talks: Dr Laura Gray – Long term trends in obesity and ageing: what is the best way to identify obesity-related health risk as people age?
07/02/2025
Dr Laura Gray, funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC), is currently working on an MRC Skills Development Fellowship focused on investigating obesity in older adults. Using data from the Health Survey for England, Dr Gray is examining trends in obesity among older populations, employing tailored, fit-for-purpose measures to better understand the evolving patterns and underlying factors of obesity in this age group. Her work aims to provide valuable insights that could inform public health strategies and interventions targeting older adults.
Dr Laura Gray, University of Sheffield, funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC)
It’s well known that using BMI as a measure for obesity is problematic but this is especially true for older adults. As we age, we tend to lose muscle mass — meaning an older person’s BMI could be considered healthy despite them having a much higher body fat percentage.
Health Econometrician Dr Laura Gray wanted to find out what drives the increase in prevalence of obesity as we age, and test whether the trend of decreasing obesity in older people is a red herring thanks to over-reliance on BMI.
Using data from the Health Survey for England, Laura looked at trends in obesity in using waist circumference, waist to hip ratio and waist to height ratio. Instead of seeing obesity rates decrease from the age of 65, she found prevalence continued to increase during the lifecourse. To disentangle the effects of different variables Laura undertook an age period cohort analysis. Her research concluded that it’s the day-to-day environment in which we live that is responsible for the increase in obesity over the life course, rather than the ageing population itself or generational trends.
Watch the recording
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Meet the speakers
Dr Laura Gray
Laura is a Research Fellow at the University of Sheffield, specialising in health econometrics and the development of statistical methods using observational data. Her research focuses on obesity across the lifecourse, with particular interest in its causes and impacts at different stages of life. Laura has previously held an ESRC CASE studentship, where she explored the factors contributing to childhood obesity. Currently, she is working on an MRC Skills Development Fellowship, investigating the prevalence and determinants of obesity in older adults, further advancing her expertise in this critical area of public health.