The Changing Relationship between Obesity and Disability in Middle and Older Adults: 1997 and 2006 China Health and Nutrition Surveys
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To the Editor: Recent data suggest that the association between obesity and high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and mortality has decreased. If the health status of obese adults improves because of primary prevention efforts to reduce the burden of disease, then the association between obesity and disability may also decrease, although if their health status improves because of secondary or tertiary prevention efforts, the link between obesity and disability will grow stronger, even though people may live longer with disease. One study showed that the effect of obesity on disability was stable over time, whereas another study found that the effect of obesity on disability increased over time. These two studies were conducted in United States, and this question has not been studied in developing countries such as China. The objective of the current study was to determine whether the relationship between obesity and activity of daily living (ADL) limitations changed between 1997 and 2006 in Chinese adults aged 55 and older. ADL impairment was focused on because it has been used extensively to predict long-term care need. This analysis uses data from the 1997 and 2006 surveys of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) to examine change in ADL impairment according to body mass index (BMI) category. The CHNS covers nine provinces, and the survey drew a random sample of respondents aged 16 and older; 5,591 (2,143 in 1997 and 3,448 in 2006) respondents aged 55 and older were the focus of this study.
JOUR
Chou, Kee-Lee
2012
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
60
12
2364-5
2012/12/13
1532-5415 (Electronic) 0002-8614 (Linking)
10.1111/jgs.12025
1825