Obesity and disability in older Mexican americans, 1993-2011

The prevalence of obesity in the U.S. is dramatically increasing, a situation that has been described as an “epidemic.” Increases in obesity have been observed in both men and women, in all age groups, major ethnic groups, and at all educational levels. However, in Mexican Americans the increased level of obesity only partially accounts for the fact that they have higher prevalence of diabetes compared with non-Hispanic Whites. These high rates of both obesity and diabetes are also related to higher levels of disability in older Mexican Americans. Previous research explaining disparities in age, gender, and nativity on between obesity and disability has focused on cross-sectional or short-term longitudinal studies of non-Hispanic populations to, but there have been few long-term longitudinal studies of obesity and disability among older Mexican Americans. A 17-year longitudinal study would give a clearer description of the dynamics of associations between obesity and disability. Using the baseline (1993-1994) to wave seven (2010-2011) data from the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiological Study of the Elderly (Hispanic EPESE), this proposed study seeks to determine age, gender, and nativity differences in the relationship between obesity and disability among older Mexican Americans. Tentative analyses results show that obesity is not associated with greater ADL disability by age or by nativity, but obesity is partially associated with greater disability in women compared to men.