Abstract
The obesity crisis has been a major concern for public health organizations worldwide, and affects the geriatric population in parallel to that of the general population. Though geriatric obesity has been recognized in developed countries, such trends have also extended into developing countries due to disproportionate consumption of energy-dense low-cost food and increasingly sedentary lifestyles. The consequences of geriatric obesity include impaired physical function, decreased quality of life, institutionalization and death. The aim is to describe the obesity epidemic in both developed and developing countries, as well as highlight current surveillance efforts to monitor geriatric obesity on a global scale such as the Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE study), which evaluates epidemiology trends in six different countries (China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa). The impact of obesity on health, disease and systems worldwide will be described, as well as projections of future trends of this disease.
Highlights
The obesity crisis has been a major concern for public health organizations worldwide, and affects the geriatric population in parallel to that of the general population
Al Snih et al 22 investigated data from five sites of the Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly, following a total of 12,725 Americans who were not disabled at baseline (8359 non-Hispanic white Americans, 1931 African Americans and 2435 Mexican Americans) over a 7 year span
The authors found the highest mortality risk to be in the normal BMI and central obesity cohorts, reporting hazard ratios (HR) of 1.29 in the high waist circumference group and 1.29 in the high waist-hip ratio group
Summary
In general, increases the risk of developing coronary heart disease 14, hypertension 15, diabetes 16, and obstructive sleep apnea 17, and has been linked to certain cancers 4, reduced life expectancy 18, and increased risk of premature mortality. 19 While such co-morbidity is important in the elderly, quality of life and functional status often become of more significant interest to such patients. 20 Compared with the lowest quartile of waist circumference (< 87.0 cm), odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of the highest quartile (>104.2 cm) for having difficulties in functional domains were 2.4 (95% CI=1.6-3.6) for activities of daily living, 2.3 (95% CI=1.6-3.3) for instrumental activities of daily living, 2.6 (95% CI=1.6-4.1) for leisure and social activities, 4.8 (3.4-6.9) for lower extremity mobility and 2.9 (95% CI=2.1-4.0) for general physical activities In men, they were associated with most measures of disabilities, but less so for activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living. Al Snih et al 22 investigated data from five sites of the Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly, following a total of 12,725 Americans who were not disabled at baseline (8359 non-Hispanic white Americans, 1931 African Americans and 2435 Mexican Americans) over a 7 year span Their findings concluded that a disability-free life expectancy was greatest in subjects with BMI of 25-30 kg/m2, and those >30 kg/m2 at baseline were significantly more likely to experience disability. The authors found the highest mortality risk to be in the normal BMI and central obesity cohorts (either high waist circumference or high waist-hip ratio), reporting hazard ratios (HR) of 1.29 (95% CI=1.13-1.46) in the high waist circumference group and 1.29 (95% CI=1.12-1.50) in the high waist-hip ratio group. 27 Importantly, subjects with normal weight obesity have higher cardiometabolic disorders and can inadvertently be ignored in clinical practice
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