Care for Midlife and Older Adults
Everyday ways to manage your metabolic health
Midlife and later is a time when muscle mass tends to fall and abdominal fat tends to rise. In Korea, diabetes prevalence among those aged 65 and older is 29.3% (Korean Diabetes Association 2024), and metabolic syndrome affects about 47% (KDCA). Strength training, tracking your waist circumference, comparing your health check results, and getting enough protein are the keys to management.
Managing Metabolic Health in Midlife and Beyond
As you get older, muscle mass tends to fall and body fat, especially abdominal fat, tends to rise. According to the Korean Diabetes Association, diabetes prevalence among Koreans aged 65 and older is 29.3%, or 3 in 10. KDCA data also show a metabolic syndrome prevalence of about 47.0% among those aged 65 and older.
Midlife and later is when changes in metabolic health start to show up in the numbers, and also when management can make the biggest difference.
Key points to practise
Keep your muscle
Do strength training 2–3 times a week, steadily, to slow the loss of muscle mass.
Track your waist circumference
Measure your waist the same way once a month.
Compare your health check results
Put this year's and last year's health check numbers side by side and look at the changes.
Get enough protein
Include protein foods at every meal.
Know your family history
Find out whether your parents and siblings have had diabetes or high blood pressure.
Review your medications
Share the medications and health functional foods you take with your health care provider.
- Korean Diabetes Association, Diabetes Fact Sheets in Korea 2024 (Diabetes Metab J 2025;49:24-33), based on Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2021–2022
- KDCA National Health Information Portal, “Metabolic Syndrome”