Association between sedentary behavior and dynapenic abdominal obesity among older adults from low- and middle-income countries

Sedentary behavior, or time spent sitting, may increase risk for dynapenic abdominal obesity (DAO), but there are currently no studies on this topic.

Therefore, we investigated the association between sedentary behaviour and DAO in a nationally representative sample of older adults from six low- and middle-income countries.

Cross-sectional data from the Study on Global AGEing and Adult Health were analysed. Dynapenia was defined as handgrip strength < 26 kg for men and < 16 kg for women. Abdominal obesity was defined as waist circumference of > 88 cm (> 80 cm for Asian countries) for women and > 102 cm (> 90 cm) for men. DAO was defined as having both dynapenia and abdominal obesity. Self-reported sedentary behavior was categorized as ≥ 8 h/day (high sedentary behaviour) or < 8 h/day. Multivariable multinomial logistic regression was conducted.

Data on 20,198 adults aged ≥ 60 years were analyzed [mean (SD) age 69.3 (13.1) years; 54.1% females]. In the overall sample, ≥ 8 h of sedentary behavior per day (vs. <8 h) was significantly associated with 1.52 (95%CI = 1.11-2.07) times higher odds for DAO (vs. no dynapenia and no abdominal obesity), and this was particularly pronounced among males (OR = 2.27; 95%CI = 1.42-3.62). Highly sedentary behavior was not significantly associated with dynapenia alone or abdominal obesity alone.

High sedentary behaviour may increase risk for DAO among older adults.

Interventions to reduce sedentary behaviour may also lead to reduction of DAO and its adverse health outcomes, especially among males, pending future longitudinal research.