Overweight in elderly Mexican women of a marginal community

Obesity is a main risk factor in the development of diseases, which are causes of death in elderly population. Socio-economic characteristics had an impact in the prevalence of obesity. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of obesity in elderly Mexican women living in a marginal community and compare their results with those of women of urban and rural areas in Mexico. The study has a cross sectional design. Standardised nutritionist carried out the measurements. The international techniques recommended were used to measure weight and height. To estimate the proportion of overweight and obesity, the body mass index (BMI) was used following the WHO categories. A total of 249 elderly women were examined. The mean age was 71.6 (sd 7.8). No difference in age was found in the three communities visited (p>0.05). The mean BMI in the urban women was 26.7 (sd 4.6), in the rural 24.5 (sd 3.9), and in the marginal group 28.6 (sd 5.5) (p<0.0001). The proportion of overweight and obese women was in the urban group 60.7%, in the rural 36.2%, and in the marginal women 76.5% (p<0.001). The results of this study indicated the presence of a high prevalence of overweight and obesity in elderly women of urban and particularly in the marginal areas. Marginality seams to be a risk marker of obesity in elderly women in Mexico. Intervention programs aimed to decrease the prevalence of obesity and improve nutritional condition in this group are urgent.