Total and central obesity in elderly associated with a marker of undernutrition in early life - sitting height-to-stature ratio: A nutritional paradox.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to investigate whether sitting height-to-stature ratio (SHSR) is associated with total and central obesity in the elderly.


METHODS
This was a cross-sectional study with 133 noninstitutionalized elderly. High SHSR (≥ 1SD above the mean) was used as a marker of undernutrition (MU) in early life. Poisson's multiple regression was used to determine the association between variables.


RESULTS
The prevalence of high SHSR was 21.0%, total obesity 43.6% and central obesity 50.4%. Elderly with high SHSR presented a statistically significant association with total obesity (PR 1.50; 95% CI 1.04-2.18) and central obesity (PR 1.42; 95% CI 1.03-1.95) after adjustment for sex, age, educational level and income in the multivariate analysis.


CONCLUSIONS
The occurrence of total and central obesity in the elderly was associated with a MU in early life. This result indicates that nutritional deficiencies in childhood may increase the risk of obesity in the elderly, a nutritional paradox.
Post-Graduation Program in Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Goiás, Brazil.
Erika Aparecida
EA
Silveira
Post-Graduation Program in Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Goiás, Brazil.
Carla Cristina da Conceição
CCDC
Ferreira
Post-Graduation Program in Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Goiás, Brazil.|Nursing School, Federal University of Goiás, Brazil.
Valéria
V
Pagotto
Post-Graduation Program in Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Goiás, Brazil.
Annelisa Silva E Alves de Carvalho
ASEAC
Santos
Nursing School, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Gustavo
G
Velasquez-Melendez
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001827:Body Height; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009752:Nutritional Status; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D015995:Prevalence