Weight Issues in the elderly

Course overview

OBJECTIVES At the completion of this tutorial students will be able to: 1.Define “obese” according to the National Nutritionist’s Society. 2.Discuss 2 types of weight Issues in the elderly. 3.Discuss the probable causes of weight Issues. 4.Identify what ordinary steps you can take to encourage a healthy diet. 5.Discuss what body mass index means. DEFINITIONS BMI: body mass index, or BMI, is a ratio of height to weight. After the normal range, the higher the BMI, the more obese the person will be. A BMI of 18.5 to 25 indicates the optimal weight. DASH Diet: The DASH diet is based on the research studies: Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, and has been proven to lower blood pressure, reduce cholesterol, and improve insulin sensitivity. It is based on an eating plan proven to lower blood pressure, some plan rich in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat or nonfat dairy. Morbid Obesity: also known as clinically severe obesity, is an abnormal obesity defined as the condition of having body weight over 100 lbs over an ideal body weight or having a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or higher. A BMI of 35.0 or higher in the presence of at least one other significant co-morbidity is also classified by some bodies as morbid obesity. Obesity: is defined as having an excessive amount of body fat. Obesity is more than just a cosmetic concern, though. It increases your risk of diseases and health problems such as diabetes and high blood pressure. WEIGHT ISSUES AND CAUSES Overweight: Nearly two-thirds of all adults (64 percent) are either overweight or obese; nearly 14 percent (split evenly between men and women) are considered obese, up 61 percent since 1991, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, the Hyattsville, Md.-based statistical arm of the Centers for Disease Control. The total costs to society from obesity's scourge are estimated to be as high as $300 billion per year. Obesity costs U.S. companies an estimated $12.7 billion annually, reports the National Business Group on Health (NBGH), a consortium of major employers working to control health care costs. The higher an individual's body mass index, or BMI, the higher the costs. (BMI is a ratio of height to weight.) Prescribed exercise plays a major role in the elderly’s health status and weight issues. "Health costs go up within each BMI category," says researcher Dee Edington, director of the Health Management Research Center at the University of Michigan. "Even a one BMI unit increase translates into dollars. Costs are pretty flat between 25 and 27.5 [within the overweight classification], but they really take off at 30 [the obese category]." While the formula for BMI dates to the 19th century, the term "body mass index" for the ratio and its popularity date to a 1972 paper by Ancel Keys, which found the BMI to be the best estimate for body fat percentage among ratios of weight and height. The interest in measuring body fat being due to obesity becoming a discernible issue in prosperous Western societies. BMI was explicitly cited by Keys as being appropriate for population studies, and inappropriate for individual diagnosis. Nevertheless, due to its simplicity, it came to be widely used for individual diagnosis, despite its inappropriateness. BMI provided a simple numeric measure of a person's "fatness" or "thinness", allowing health professionals to discuss over- and under-weight problems more objectively with their patients. However, BMI has become controversial because many people, including physicians, have come to rely on its apparent numerical authority for medical diagnosis, but that was never the BMI's purpose; it is meant to be used as a simple means of classifying sedentary (physically inactive) individuals with an average body composition. For these individuals, the current value settings are as follows: a BMI of 18.5 to 25 may indicate optimal weight; a BMI lower than 18.5 suggests the person is underweight whil