Prevalence and predictors of recommendations to lose weight in overweight and obese older adults in Georgia senior centers

Abstract Objective To examine the prevalence and predictors of health care professional recommendations to lose weight in Older Americans Act Nutrition Program participants in Georgia senior centers who met professional and/or governmental organization criteria for weight loss recommendation. Method...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Preventive medicine 2010-07, Vol.51 (1), p.27-30
Main Authors: Clune, Alison, Fischer, Joan G, Lee, Jung Sun, Reddy, Sudha, Johnson, Mary Ann, Hausman, Dorothy B
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Comorbidities
Comorbidity
Day centres
Directive Counseling - statistics & numerical data
Elderly people
Female
Georgia - epidemiology
Health
Humans
Internal Medicine
Male
Middle Aged
Obesity
Obesity - diagnosis
Obesity - epidemiology
Obesity - therapy
Older adults
Overweight
Physician-Patient Relations
Prevalence
Risk Reduction Behavior
Weight Loss
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Abstract Objective To examine the prevalence and predictors of health care professional recommendations to lose weight in Older Americans Act Nutrition Program participants in Georgia senior centers who met professional and/or governmental organization criteria for weight loss recommendation. Methods Demographic, health, and weight loss recommendation information obtained from community-dwelling convenience sample ( n = 793; 2007–2008) of older adults via interviewer administered questionnaires. Results Approximately 70% of participants met weight loss criteria, but only 36% of them received advice to lose weight in the past year. Report of weight loss recommendation was 52.0% for those ‘obese with risks’ and 19.8% for those ‘overweight with risks’. Recommendation to lose weight was significantly ( p < 0.05) associated with body mass index, waist circumference risk, younger age, self-reported disability, and urban residence. When controlled for other health and demographic factors, recommendation to lose weight was significantly associated with heart disease, but not other chronic conditions including diabetes, hypertension, or joint pain. Conclusion Many older adults who may benefit from weight loss are not receiving advice to do so. Health care professionals need to be aware of this problem to assist community-dwelling older adults in better managing their health to help maintain independence and improve their quality of life.
ISSN:0091-7435
1096-0260
DOI:10.1016/j.ypmed.2010.04.003