Abstract
Background: Studies have shown an association between undernutrition and increased adverse outcome, as well as substantial geographic and age variations in undernutrition. Body mass index (BMI), a core indicator of undernutrition, is easy to measure and reflects the nutritional and health status of the human body. It is a simple and suitable tool for epidemiological investigations in large sample populations. Herein, we provide the first description of geographic and age variations in the prevalence of low BMI among community-dwelling older people in Xinjiang.Methods: From January 2019 to December 2019, using a multi-stage random sampling method, we conducted a cross-sectional epidemiological survey of the community-dwelling older people in Xinjiang at different latitudes. Of the 87,000 participants, the statistical analyses included 86,514 participants with complete data.Results: In Xinjiang, the prevalence of low BMI was 7.7% in the community-dwelling older people. The BMI gradually decreased with increasing age and gradually increased with latitude. The prevalence of low BMI in northern Xinjiang was 5.3%, which was significantly lower than that in eastern (7.7%) and southern (9.3%) Xinjiang. In the 60–69-, 70–79-, 80–89-, and ≥90-year age groups, the prevalence rates of low BMI were 5.8, 7.9, 10.0, and 13.9%, respectively. After adjusting for confounding factors (sex, ethnic group, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipemia, smoking, and drinking), multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the odds ratios (95% CI) for low BMI in eastern and southern Xinjiang were 1.165 (1.056–1.285) and 1.400 (1.274–1.538), respectively, compared to northern Xinjiang. The adjusted odds ratios (95% CI) for low BMI in the 70–79-, 80–89-, and ≥90-year age groups were 1.511 (1.39–1.635), 2.233 (2.030–2.456), and 3.003 (2.439–3.696), respectively, compared to the 60–69-year age group.Conclusion: The results of this study revealed geographic and age variations in the prevalence of low BMI in the community-dwelling older people in Xinjiang. The prevalence of low BMI gradually increased as the latitude decreased and as age increased.
Highlights
Research on aging has attracted significant attention worldwide
Older individuals experience a series of inevitable nutritional problems such as chewing and swallowing difficulties caused by tooth loss, absorption and utilization obstacles due to decreased body tissue and organ function, anorexia caused by medication, and other diseases
The prevalence of low Body mass index (BMI) in northern Xinjiang was 5.3%, which was significantly lower than that in eastern (7.7%) and southern (9.3%) Xinjiang
Summary
Research on aging has attracted significant attention worldwide. The World Health Organization has reported a rapidly aging global population. The “Nutrition and Health Report of the Chinese Older People (2015)” revealed the high nutritional risk of older individuals in China, with up to 48.4% of individuals having a poor nutritional status [2, 3]. In 2012, the total economic burden associated with undernutrition among older people in China was 84.14 billion Yuan, of which the direct economic burden was 63.93 billion Yuan. This accounted for 10.6% of the treatment cost of all diseases among older people, thereby increasing the financial burden of millions of families, as well as other countries [4, 5].
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