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

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

AIMS: 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.

METHODS: 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.

RESULTS: 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.

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

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