Overweight and obesity as markers for the evaluation of disease risk in older adults

• Published in: The Journal of nutrition, health & aging health & aging, 2012, Vol.16 (1), p.14-20
• Main Authors: Rosas-Carrasco, O., Juarez-Cedillo, T., Ruiz-Arregui, L., Garcia Pena, C., Vargas-Alarcon, G., Sanchez-Garcia, Sergio
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abdomen; Age; Age Factors; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Biological and medical sciences; Body Mass Index; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diabetes; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - etiology; Disease; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Geriatrics/Gerontology; Health Status; Humans; Hypertension; Hypertension - etiology; Indians, Central American; Male; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolic diseases; Metabolic disorders; Metabolic syndrome; Metabolic Syndrome - etiology; Mexico - epidemiology; Middle Aged; Neurosciences; Nutrition; Nutrition Surveys; Obesity; Obesity - complications; Obesity - epidemiology; Obesity, Abdominal - complications; Obesity, Abdominal - epidemiology; Older people; Overweight; Overweight - complications; Overweight - epidemiology; Overweight and Obesity as Markers for the Evaluation of Disease Risk in Older Adults; Population; Prevalence; Primary Care Medicine; Public health; Quality of Life Research; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors; Sex Factors; Sociodemographics; Socioeconomic Factors; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; Waist Circumference; Womens health
• ISSN: 1279-7707; 1760-4788
• DOI: 10.1007/s12603-012-0001-8

Objectives To explore disease risk through the measurement of BMI scores and waist circumferences in older Mexican adults with favorable health statuses and to determine how this risk is associated with sociodemographic characteristics. Methods Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey of 2006, we created a cross-sectional design and selected 878 participants (60 years or older) who had favorable health statuses. The demographic data, health status, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and an estimation of disease risk (arterial hypertension, diabetes type 2, and metabolic syndrome) were obtained through the survey. Results The prevalence of overweight, obesity, and abdominal obesity were 42.1%, 29.7%, and 80.9%, respectively. Disease risks, which were classified as least, increased, high, or very high, were 14.7%, 17.5%, 38.7%, and 29.1%, respectively. We observed that younger age has a higher risk for disease and that this decreases as age increases until it becomes minimal. After controlling for some risk factors such as tobacco, alcohol, and physical activity, we observed that being female, younger, and married are all factors significantly associated with a high and very high risk for disease. On the other hand, being indigenous, having a low education level, living in a rural setting are all protective factors with a minimum disease risk. Conclusions The prevalence rates of overweight, obesity, and abdominal obesity are high among older Mexican adults. We observed that as age increases, disease risk decreases, which also occurs with some lifestyle factors such as living in a rural setting, being indigenous, having a low education level, and being married.