Whether an obese individual is metabolically healthy or unhealthy, their retinal age gap may be higher than individuals with a normal weight, according to this study. Photo:Getty Images.

A patient’s weight can play a significant role in their eye health. Those who are obese tend to present with more ocular complications than others, but some may go their entire lives without a developing disease or condition arising due to their weight. In a recent study, researchers from China and Australia assessed potential associations in patients with metabolically healthy obesity concerning their “retinal age gap”—the difference between normal aging and the present status of the retina—through comparisons with normal and overweight subjects.

“Retinal age has emerged recently as a simple measurement to provide a thoughtful and individual-specific reflection of overall health,” the researchers wrote in their paper for Translational Vision Science & Technology. Retinal age gap “has been verified as a reliable and promising indicator for mortality and morbidities, especially those related to metabolic and cardiovascular health.”

For the study, the researchers included 30,335 cases from the United Kingdom Biobank. They assessed six categories of subjects:

• metabolically healthy normal weight
• metabolically healthy overweight
• metabolically healthy obesity
• metabolically unhealthy normal weight
• metabolically unhealthy overweight
• metabolically unhealthy obesity

Each subject’s retinal age gap was analyzed by finding the difference between retinal age and chronological age. Additionally, the researchers examined sex differences between all the groups.

“We found that the metabolically healthy obesity phenotype was associated significantly with accelerated retinal aging compared with metabolically healthy normal weight,” mentioned the researchers in their paper. “Additionally, no significant sex differences were observed in the association between metabolically healthy obesity and the retinal age gap.”

Both metabolically health overweight and obese subjects were significantly associated with an increased retinal age gap compared to normal weight subjects. As for metabolically unhealthy subjects, they were all associated with a higher retinal age gap.

“Our study revealed that individuals with metabolically healthy overweight and metabolically healthy obesity were significantly associated with an increased retinal age gap compared with those with metabolically healthy normal weight,” concluded the researchers in their article. “Weight management should be recommended for individuals who are overweight or obese, even in the absence of metabolic unhealthy.”