Prevalence and determinants of overweight and obesity in old age in Germany

BMC Geriatrics

Research Article

Jochen Werle¹  Siegfried Weyerer¹  Thomas Lehnert²  André Hajek²  Hans-Helmut König²  Martin Scherer³  Annette Ernst³  Carolin Lange³  Horst Bickel⁴  Edelgard Mösch⁴  Kathrin Heser⁵  Michael Wagner⁶  Wolfgang Maier⁶  Birgitt Wiese⁷  Jana Prokein⁷  Michael Pentzek⁸  Angela Fuchs⁸  Tobias Luck⁹  Steffi G. Riedel-Heller⁹ 

[1] Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany;Department of Health Economics and Health Services Research, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany;Department of Primary Medical Care, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany;Department of Psychiatry, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany;Department of Psychiatry, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany;Department of Psychiatry, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany;German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Bonn, Germany;Institute of General Practice, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany;Institute of General Practice, Medical Faculty Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany;Institute of Social Medicine, Occupational Health and Public Health, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany;

关键词: Obesity;    Overweight;    Physical Activity;    Elderly;    Longitudinal;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12877-015-0081-5

 received in 2015-02-24, accepted in 2015-06-30,  发布年份 2015

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundMean body weight gradually increases with age. Yet, little data exists on the prevalence of excess weight in populations aged 80 years or older. Moreover, little is known about predictors of overweight and obesity in old age. Thus, the purpose of this study was: To present data on the prevalence of excess weight in old age in Germany, to investigate predictors of excess weight in a cross-sectional approach and to examine factors affecting excess weight in a longitudinal approach.MethodsSubjects consisted of 1,882 individuals aged 79 years or older. The course of excess weight was observed over 3 years. Excess weight was defined as follows: Overweight (25 kg/m2 ≤ BMI < 30 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2). We used fixed effects regressions to estimate effects of time dependent variables on BMI, and overweight or obesity, respectively.ResultsThe majority was overweight (40.0 %) or obese (13.7 %). Cross-sectional regressions revealed that BMI was positively associated with younger age, severe walking impairments and negatively associated with cognitive impairments. Excess weight was positively associated with younger age, elementary education, walking impairments and physical inactivity, while excess weight was negatively associated with cognitive impairment. Longitudinal regressions showed that age and severely impaired walking disabilities reduced BMI. The probability of transitions to excess weight decreased considerably with older age and occurrence of severe walking impairments (overweight).ConclusionsMarked differences between predictors in cross- and longitudinal setting exist, underlining the complex nature of excess weight in old age.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Hajek et al. 2015