More than one in three Americans age 65 and older is obese – a sobering statistic, considering the life-shortening health effects of additional weight at that age.

But weight loss could pose a special set of risks to these adults if done through reducing calories alone, namely muscle atrophy and bone weakening.

A team led by U.S. Veterans Affairs researchers looked into what kind of exercise regimen would be the best for these people — aerobic exercise, weight training, or a combination of the two.

After 26 weeks of study, researchers found that the group who engaged in both the cardio and resistance training had the best scores in the areas of physical function and measures of frailty, body composition and bone mineral density.

You can read about the study in the New England Journal of Medicine.

(ABC)