Survey of obesity, underweight and associated factors in elderly people, using some of anthropometric indices in Isfahan city, 2004

Background and Ôverweight and obesity are generally considered to have a negative impact on longevity because of their association with many diseases, such as hypertension diabetes, coronary artery disease, osteoarthritis and cetain types of cancers. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of malnutrition (obesity and underweight) and some of their associated factors in elderly. This cross-sectional study was done on 1700 (733 male and 969 female) elderly people (60 years and over), in Ïsfahan during spring and summer 2004. Ëlderly were selected using a cluster sampling methodology, each containing 30 clusters. Âlso 58 elderly were selected randomly from each cluster. Respondents were asked to reply the questionnaire. Ânthropometric measurements were taken using digital scale and tape. Data were analyzed by using SPSS Ver 11.5 and using χ2 test, analyze of variance and correlation coefficient. Background variables like age, sex, education and occupation were found to be associated to BMÏ for elderly. There was a significant negative correlation between age and BMÏ for elderly. There was statistically significant relationship between cigarette smoking, watching TV and BMÏ for elderly. Based on BMÏ: 12% of males and 28.9% of females were obese, 5.9% of males and 4.1% of females were underweight based on WHR: 45% of males and 87.1 % of females were obese and based on WHTR: 75.3% of males and 83% of females were obese. Çonclusion: Ôur results indicate that increasing the knowledge of the elderly people about balanced diet and aerobic sports proportionate to their age, seems to be necessary for the prevention of obesity. Âccording to our observations, changes in life style such as, decreasing of sedentary activities and avoidance from cigarette smoking are important measures for the prevention of malnutrition. Ïn all, efforts should be directed towards influencing those underlying factors decreasing obesity in the elderly.