Underweight, Overweight, and Anemia among Elderly Persons in a rural area of Ballabgarh, Haryana

BACKGROUND: Underweight, overweight, and anemia are common public health problems among elderly individuals. OBJECTIVES: The current study was conducted in a rural area of Ballabgarh, Haryana, to estimate the prevalence of underweight, overweight, and anemia among elderly persons and to find their association with sociodemographic variables. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 420 elderly persons aged ≥60 years were selected by simple random sampling. Information on variables was collected by an interview schedule. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated from height and arm-span of elderly persons. Hemoglobin was estimated with HemoCue(®) Hb 201(+) system. RESULTS: Of the total participants, 33.6% were underweight, 13.8% were overweight, 15.6% were obese, and 37.0% had normal BMI. None of the sociodemographic variables was found to be significantly associated with being underweight. Being female was significantly associated with being overweight/obese. The prevalence of anemia was 36.4%. None of the sociodemographic variables was associated with anemia. CONCLUSIONS: Underweight and anemia are common among elderly persons in rural areas. These need to be addressed through community-based interventions.