Prevalence of Obesity among the Elderly attending geriatric clubs in selected in Rural districts of Tamil Nadu – A Descriptive Cross sectional Study
M. Baby Saroja, Julius John Samuel, Grace RebekahAbstract
Background:
Overweight and obesity are major public health concerns globally and are found to be on the rise even among older adults in rural areas. As per the World Health Organization (WHO) report 2022, the prevalence of overweight and obesity is 43% and 16%, respectively, among adults.
Objective:
The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity among the elderly attending the geriatric clubs of the College of Nursing Community Health programme.
Methods:
A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among older adults attending nurse-managed geriatric clubs. A total of 130 subjects were recruited using Total Enumerative Sampling after obtaining informed consent. Data were collected using a self-structured, validated tool to assess the prevalence of overweight among the elderly. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics in SPSS 21.0 version.
Results:
The study findings reveal that most subjects (42.3%) had a weight between 51–60.9 Kg, with a mean weight of 56.2 kg. In addition, 10.8% of participants had a lower body mass index (BMI), and more than half (56.9%) had a normal BMI, while 20.8% were classified as pre-obese according to the WHO BMI cut-off points. The overweight (23.8%) and pre-obese (21.5%) categories increased significantly in Asian BMI cut-off points.
Conclusion:
Being overweight has a negative impact on the quality of life and can influence health consequences and complications. Nurses play a vital role in promoting awareness and preventing ill health associated with overweight and obesity among the elderly in community settings.