Gender differences in the association of obesity-related measures with multi-morbidity among older adults in India: evidence from LASI, Wave-1

Abstract

Background Co-existence of multiple chronic diseases is increasingly becoming a norm among ageing population. The study aims to investigate the prevalence of multimorbidity and the association between anthropometric measures of obesity and multimorbidity among men and women aged 60 years and above in India. Methods The present study is based on the first wave of the Longitudinal Aging Study in India. The analytical sample size for the study was 28,050 older adults aged 60 years and above. Descriptive statistics and multivariable analysis using logistic regression models were conducted. Results Body Mass Index (BMI) based-obesity is more prevalent among older women than men (26.3% vs. 17.6%). Similarly, higher proportion of older women was at high-risk waist circumference (37.1% vs 8.9%) and waist-hip ratio (78.5 vs 75.4%) than men respectively. In Model-I, after controlling for several covariates, older adults with overweight/obesity were 1.6 times more likely to have multi-morbidity than non-obese older adults (Adjusted OR = 1.61; 95% CI: 1.48–1.74). Similarly, older adults with high-risk waist circumference [Adjusted OR: 1.66; 95% CI: 1.52–1.80] and waist-hip ratio [Adjusted OR: 1.45; 95% CI: 1.33–1.59] also had higher odds of having multi-morbidity in reference to their counterparts. In model-3 it was found that females with high-risk waist-hip ratio had 14% lower odds of multimorbidity than males with high-risk waist-hip ratio [Adjusted OR: 0.86; 95%CI: 0.78–0.94]. Conclusion The findings of the study show significant gender difference in the prevalence of multimorbidity, men being at increased risk in the multivariate analysis which is uncommon in the existing epidemiological research. Interactive effect of male gender with anthropometric measures on multimorbidity reported in our study probably due to increased unhealthy behaviours among men requires further research.

Multivariate decomposition of gender differentials in successful aging among older adults in India

“…Hence, the successful aging disparity can partially be explained by the differential poverty and illiteracy rates in urban and rural areas. Also, as evidence suggests, older people with higher socioeconomic status and those who reside in urban areas are more likely to have several lifestyle diseases including obesity [ 22 , 68 , 69 ] which may ultimately result in poor mental and physical performance and lower rate of successful aging.…”

Overweight Prevalence among Rural Adolescents by Household Head Obesity and Socio-Economic Status in Limpopo, South Africa

“…This result is consistent with our findings, which showed that there were more girls than boys who were overweight and indicated that boys have a lower risk of being overweight than girls. This situation can be seen in the adult population as well, with women having the greatest likelihood of being overweight [ 23 , 24 ]. A study by Zong and his colleagues found that children raised in an extended family, mainly raised by their grandparents, or in high-income households may have an increased risk of becoming obese/overweight [ 25 ].…”

Risk factors of multimorbidity among older adults in India: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…| 3 of 20 included in this systematic review. 1,18,19,[50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62] Out of these 16 studies, 15 were included in the meta-analysis. 1,18,19,50,[52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62] Figure 1 shows the process of study selection and inclusion.…”