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Assessing the Nutritional Status of Filipino Elderly: Evidence from a biomarker study
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Abstract
Similar with demographic and epidemiologic transition, changes in nutritional pattern was posited as about to
happen in low and middle-income countries; yet documentation of which among older adults is still in paucity up to date.
Elderly are expected to have a lean body mass due to changes in metabolism brought by aging; but pathways are now
leaning towards increasing in pattern of overweight and obesity among this subpopulation which further increase of its
prevalence concurrently signifies rise in non-communicable diseases (NCDs). This paper generally provides an information
on the nutritional status of our aging adults in the Philippines and its possible demographic, socioeconomic and health
behavior correlates or determinants. Drawn from recent results of the Philippine Longitudinal Survey on Aging (PLSOA)
2007, 1 in 5 older adults are underweight while the prevalence of overweight and obesity is around 25 per cent. Bivariate
association and test of trend revealed that body mass size is inversely proportional with age, while an explicit
socioeconomic health gradient is shown for both indicators, in which the body mass increases as both level of education
and wealth improve, and these are both highly significant (p<0.0001). Using ordered logit models, being in an older
cohort and elderly who claimed that they are currently smoking are more likely to be underweight while the proportional
odds is higher to be overweight or obese if they are married, widowed, in higher wealth quintile, and with history of
hypertension. Future research on other factors of the double burden of malnutrition among elderly and health
promotional activities and programs which program planners may take are recommended by this study.
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