Abstract:
Objective To explore the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure (BP), blood lipids, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and hemoglobin (Hb) in the elderly.
Methods A total of 10 978 elderly individuals aged≥65 years old in a community in Baoshan District, Shanghai from February 2023 to October 2023 were selected as the research subjects. Height, body mass, waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), Hb were measured, and BMI and WHR were calculated. According to the Chinese BMI reference standard, the elderly were divided into a lean group (BMI < 18.5 kg/m2, n=310), a normal body mass group (18.5 kg/m2≤BMI < 24 kg/m2, n=4 692), a overweight group (24 kg/m2≤BMI < 28 kg/m2, n= 4 615), and an obese group (BMI≥28 kg/m2, n=1 361). The levels of BP, blood lipids, WHR, and Hb in the four groups were compared and correlation analysis was conducted.
Results The levels of BMI, WC, HC, WHR, SBP, DBP, and Hb in elderly men were higher than those in elderly women (all P < 0.01), while the levels of TC, HDL, and LDL were lower than those in elderly women (all P < 0.01). The differences in SBP, DBP, TC, HDL, LDL, WHR, and Hb among the four groups were statistically significant (all P < 0.05), and BMI was positively correlated with SBP, DBP, TC, LDL, WHR, and Hb (r=0.109, 0.064, 0.041, 0.042, 0.108, 0.089, all P < 0.01), and negatively correlated with HDL (r=﹣0.106, P < 0.01). The BMI of elderly men in the normal body mass group was higher than that of elderly women, while the BMI of elderly women in the obesity group was higher than that of elderly men (both P < 0.01). In the normal body mass group, the BMI of elderly people aged < 75 years old was higher than that of elderly people aged ≥75 years old (P < 0.05).
Conclusions BMI is closely related to the health of the elderly, and maintaining an ideal BMI is the foundation for health management and prevention of chronic diseases in the elderly.