TUESDAY, Aug. 11, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Two factors dramatically increase the risk of early death for middle-aged folks and seniors, a new study says — belly fat and vitamin D deficiency.

People over 50 with belly fat and low vitamin D have a more than doubled risk of death, compared to folks without those conditions, researchers reported recently in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism.

Although each condition is dangerous on its own, together they multiply a person’s risk of premature death, researchers said.

“Abdominal obesity is a well-known risk factor because it’s associated with inflammation and metabolic problems. Vitamin D, on the other hand, is a hormone that acts on various organs, and its deficiency impairs several bodily functions,” senior researcher Tiago Silva Alexandre said in a news release. He is a professor of gerontology at the Federal University of São Carlos in Brazil.

“When these two conditions occur together, one amplifies the effects of the other, further increasing the risk of death,” Alexandre said.

For the new study, researchers analyzed data for more than 5,500 people in England who took part in a long-term study of aging. Participants body fat and blood samples were analyzed every four years.

Results showed that, over a six-year period in these older folks, belly fat alone increased risk of death by 47%. Researchers defined abdominal obesity as a waist measurement of more than 40 inches for men and 34 inches for women.

Likewise, vitamin D deficiency on its own caused death risk to rise by up to 91%.

But together, belly fat and low vitamin D caused a person’s risk of death to more than double, researchers found.

The two conditions create a vicious cycle in the body, Alexandre explained. Abdominal fat captures vitamin D, preventing it from circulating throughout the bloodstream.

“This means that although the body may have the vitamin stored in fat, it isn’t freely available in the blood to perform vital functions in other organs and systems,” he said.

People with obesity also don’t produce higher levels of the enzymes necessary to process vitamin D, which further reduces its availability.

“Abdominal obesity reduces circulating vitamin D, and that deficiency impairs the immune system, exacerbating the chronic inflammation caused by excess fat and drastically increasing the risk of mortality,” Alexandre said.

This is particularly harmful for people who are aging, because they naturally suffer from low-grade chronic inflammation, he said.

“Under normal conditions, vitamin D acts as a regulator of the immune system, preventing inflammation from getting out of control,” Alexandre said. “When vitamin D levels are low and there’s excess abdominal fat, an unfavorable systemic environment develops that accelerates cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, as well as muscle loss.”

Previous studies by the group have found that vitamin D deficiency can lead to a loss of strength and an increased risk of brain aging.

“Vitamin D is a hormone with various functions. It plays a role in regulating blood pressure, heart rate, the central nervous system, the immune system and the endocrine system,” Alexandre said. “Therefore, when its levels are low, several essential bodily functions are compromised.”

Vitamin D is naturally produced through sun exposure on a person’s skin. However, people who aren’t getting enough vitamin D can take supplements or find it in vitamin-fortified foods, fish, beef liver, mushrooms and egg yolks, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

More information

The Cleveland Clinic has more on vitamin D deficiency.

SOURCE: Research Support Foundation of the State of São Paulo, news release, Aug. 4, 2026

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