OBJECTIVETo study the relationship between prevalence of central obesity and clustering of cardiometabolic diseases among Chinese elder people over 60 years old.

METHODSA complex multistage stratified sampling survey on chronic diseases was conducted in 162 surveillance points, 31 provinces, China in 2010 by China CDC. The survey included face-to-face interview, physical measurement (body height, weight, waist circumference (WC) and blood pressure) and laboratory test (blood sugar, blood lipid and hemoglobin A1C), to collect the information about the prevalence of the risk factors as smoking, drinking, diet and physical activities and the prevalence of hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia. The survey selected 19 966 subjects who were over 60 years old. Central obesity was defined as WC ≥ 85 cm in males or ≥ 80 cm in females. The prevalence of central obesity among the elder people over 60 years old in different districts and populations was calculated; and the proportion of cardiometabolic diseases in groups of different WC was then analyzed.

RESULTSThe prevalence of central obesity among elderly population over 60 years old was 48.6% (95%CI:46.1%-51.2%), including 39.7% (95%CI:37.2%-42.2%) males and 57.3% (95%CI:54.5%-60.1%) females. The proportion of females was higher than that of males (χ(2) = 474.63, P < 0.01). The higher the education level, the higher the prevalence of central obesity among elderly men. There was no significant association among females. The higher the family income, the higher the prevalence of central obesity. The prevalence of central obesity was 59.2% in urban area, which was much higher than that in rural area (43.5%) (χ(2) = 50.06, P < 0.01). The proportion of hypertension, diabetes and clustering of cardiometabolic disease was separately 18.8% (95%CI:16.1%-21.5%) , 66.2% (95%CI:63.0%-69.4%) and 47.5% (95%CI:44.1%-50.8%) among elderly men with WC between 85 and 89 cm, and separately 24.0% (95%CI:21.2%-26.8%), 78.2% (95%CI:75.6%-80.8%) and 64.0% (95%CI:60.3%-67.6%) among elderly men with WC ≥ 90 cm; which were both higher than those among elderly men with WC < 85 cm (separately 13.4% (95%CI:11.5%-15.3%) , 58.3% ( 95%CI:55.5%-60.1%) and 30.8% (95%CI:28.7%-32.9%) ). The proportion of hypertension, diabetes and clustering of cardiometabolic disease was 20.1% (95%CI:17.4%-22.7%) , 68.6% (95%CI:65.5%-71.8%) and 48.1% (95%CI:44.6%-51.6%) among elderly women with WC between 80 and 84 cm, and separately 31.7% (95%CI:28.9%-34.4%) , 81.0% (95%CI:78.5%-83.5%) and 61.8% (95%CI:58.9%-64.8%) among elderly women with WC ≥ 85 cm; which were both higher than those among elderly women with WC < 80 cm (separately 12.8% (95%CI:10.8%-14.8%) , 60.1% (95%CI:57.1%-63.0%) and 30.4% (95%CI:27.3%-33.5%)).

CONCLUSIONNearly half of the Chinese elder people were central obese. The proportion of cardiometabolic diseases among central obesity was significantly higher than that among non-obese population. We should pay more concern about them in the future prevention and control of chronic diseases.