Body mass index of the elderly in rural area of central part of Thailand.
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Date
1999-11
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Abstract
Body mass index (BMI) is an indicator for nutritional status which correlates with mortality. Studies in the past indicated that undernutrition was one of the major nutritional problems in elderly Thais especially in the rural area. The objective of this study is to determine the BMI of the elderly who live in rural areas of central Thailand. Random sampling of volunteers age > 60 years in 3 districts of Samut Songkram and Rajaburi provinces was done. One hundred and ninety-three elderly people, 77 men and 116 women, age 60-87 years old, were included in the study. BMI of male and female participants was 22.76 + 3.81 and 24.51+ 3.94 kg/m2 respectively. Women had significantly higher BMI than men. When used a BMI of <18.5 kg/m2 as cut-off point, 13.0% of male and 6.9% of female were suffering from under-nutrition. However, grade III malnutrition was found in only 1.5% of the participants of the study. In contrary, overweight and obesity was found 20.8% and 2.6% in male subjects and 33.6% and 11.2% in female subjects respectively. The prevalence of over-nutrition has increased during the past decade. A survey of over-nutrition related diseases is required and further surveillance in this population is essential to verify the impact of increasing BMI on morbidity and mortality in elderly people.
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Keywords
Body mass index, Elderly, Rural area
Citation
Yamwong Preyanuj, Assantachai Prasert, Chokeviwatwanich Siriya. Body mass index of the elderly in rural area of central part of Thailand. Siriraj Medical Journal, 1999 Nov; 51(11): 866-871.