Disability and self-rated health among older women and men in rural Guatemala: The role of obesity and chronic conditions

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Kathryn Yount, Emory University; John Hoddinott, International Food Policy Research Institute; Aryeh D Stein, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2010-10
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommerical-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.06.046
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Social Science and Medicine
• ISSN: 0277-9536
• Volume: 71
• Issue: 8
• Start Page: 1418
• End Page: 1427
• Grant/Funding Information: We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the US National Institutes of Health (5 RO1 HD45627-05: PI Hoddinott) for present activities and the many organizations (US National Institutes of Health, Thrasher Research Fund, Nestle Foundation) that have funded the work of the INCAP Longitudinal Study since inception.
• Keywords: gender differences; Guatemala; chronic disease; population ageing; disability; self-rated health; obesity
• Research Categories: Sociology, General; Health Sciences, Public Health

Abstract

Unprecedented population aging in poorer settings is coinciding with the rapid spread of obesity and other chronic conditions. These conditions predict disability and poor self-rated health and often are more prevalent in women than men. Thus, gender gaps in obesity and other chronic conditions may account for older women's greater disability and worse self-rated health in poor, rural populations, where aging, obesity, and chronic conditions are rapidly emerging. In a survey of 604 adults 50 years and older in rural Guatemala, we assessed whether gender gaps in obesity and other chronic conditions accounted for gender gaps in disability and self-rated health. Obesity strongly predicted gross-mobility (GM) disability, and the number of chronic conditions strongly predicted all outcomes, especially in women. Controlling for gender gaps in body mass index (BMI) and especially the number of chronic conditions eliminated gender gaps in GM disability, and controlling for gender gaps in the number of chronic conditions eliminated gender gaps in self-rated health. We recommend conducting longitudinal cohort studies to explore interventions that may mitigate adult obesity and chronic conditions among poor, rural older adults. Such interventions also may reduce gender gaps in later-life disability and self-rated health.