Key result
Obesity significantly increased the odds of developing cardiovascular diseases by 2.3 times compared to normal weight among Indian adults aged 45 and above.
Why the study?
The study was conducted to assess physical body indices such as BMI, WC, and WHR among older adults aged 45 and above in India, and to explore their association with various non-communicable morbidities.
Do high-risk anthropometric indices (obesity, high waist circumference, high waist-to-hip ratio) increase the risk of self-reported non-communicable diseases in older adults in India?
Cross-Sectional (n=65,662)
Do high-risk anthropometric indices (obesity, high waist circumference, high waist-to-hip ratio) increase the risk of self-reported non-communicable diseases in older adults in India?
Effect estimate: AOR 2.33 (95% CI 2.2-2.5)
p-value: p=<0.01
Obesity, high-risk waist circumference, and high-risk waist-to-hip ratio are significantly associated with an increased risk of self-reported cardiovascular and other non-communicable diseases among older adults in India.
Obesity was associated with higher CVD odds in older Indian adults; hypothesis-generating and should not yet change practice.
BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to assess the status of physical body indices such as body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) among the older adults aged 45 and above in India. Further, to explore the association of anthropometric indices with various non-communicable morbidities. METHODS: The study uses secondary data of the Longitudinal Ageing Survey's first wave in India (2017-18). The national representative sample for older adults 45 and above (65,662) considered for the analysis. The prevalence of the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) included in the study is based on the self-reporting of the participants. Diseases included are among the top ten causes of death, such as cancer, hypertension, stroke, chronic heart diseases, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, and multi-morbidity. Multi-morbidity is a case of having more than one of the morbidities mentioned above. BMI-obese indicates an individual having a BMI ≥30, and the critical threshold value for high-risk WC for men is ≥102 cm while for women is ≥88 cm. The critical limit for the high-risk WHR for men and women is ≥0.90 and ≥ 0.85, respectively. Descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regressions are used to assess the association BMI, WC, and WHR with non-communicable morbidities. RESULTS: Based on the multivariate-adjusted model, odds shows that an Indian older adult aged 45 and above is 2.3 times more likely (AOR: 2.33; 95% CI (2.2, 2.5)) by obesity, 61% more likely (AOR: 1.61; 95% CI (1.629, 1.631)) by high-risk WHR and 98% more likely (AOR: 1.98; 95% CI (1.9, 2.1)) by high-risk WC to develop CVDs than their normal counterparts. Similarly, significant positive associations of obesity, high-risk WC, and high-risk WHR were observed with other NCDs and multi-morbidity. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that obesity, high-risk WC, and high-risk WHR are significant risks for developing NCDs and multi-morbidity among the older adults in India. There is a need for a multi-sectoral approach to reduce the share of the elderly population in high-risk groups of BMIs, WHR, and WC.
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Bramhankar et al. (2021) conducted a cross-sectional in Non-communicable diseases (n=65,662). Obesity (BMI ≥30) vs. Normal BMI was evaluated on Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) (AOR 2.33, 95% CI 2.2-2.5, p=<0.01). Obesity significantly increased the odds of developing cardiovascular diseases by 2.3 times compared to normal weight among Indian adults aged 45 and above.