Nutrition/Obesity
Racial-ethnic Disparities in Obesity and Mortality among Older Adults (Aged ≥50 Years) in the U.S. (1998-2020) Nader Mehri* Nader Mehri Angela M. Malek Gaurav Dave Michelle Song Ehsan Rostami
Obesity has been increasing over time in the U.S., especially among younger and older adults, the latter for whom the association with mortality is less clear. Depending on the disease, the outcome may be better for older adults with overweight and obese BMIs than healthy or underweight BMIs known as the “obesity paradox”. Using 12 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS, 1998-2020), we investigated racial-ethnic disparities in obesity and mortality among older women (aged ≥50 years) in the U.S. We utilized the multistate life table method to quantify the number of years that women at age 50 could expect to live in different weight states based on having healthy weight, overweight and obese BMIs (including class 1, class 2 and class 3 or severe obesity).
The results demonstrate that after adjusting for education, non-Hispanic White women at age 50 could expect to live an additional 31.1 years, of which 10.2 years are expected to be a healthy weight, 10.3 years as overweight, and 10.6 years as obese (6.1 years class 1 obesity, 2.8 years class 2 obesity and 1.8 years severe obesity). In contrast, non-Hispanic Black (NHB) women at age 50 could expect to live an additional 29.3 years of which only 4.9 years are expected to be a healthy weight. This indicates that most proportions of NHB women remaining life at age 50 are expected to be overweight (9.1 years) and obese (15.2 years) including 3.2 years with severe obesity. Hispanic women at age 50 could expect to live an additional 33.5 years of which 8.9, 12.1, and 12.5 years are expected to be a healthy weight, overweight, and obese, respectively. This includes living 7.5, 3.1 and 1.9 years of their remaining life with class 1 obesity, class 2 obesity as well as severe obesity, respectively.
Overall, the findings indicate that there are notable racial-ethnic disparities in obesity and mortality among older women in the U.S. We plan to present comprehensive results for both genders upon abstract acceptance.
