@article {7913, title = {Latent heterogeneity in long-term trajectories of body mass index in older adults.}, journal = {J Aging Health}, volume = {25}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Mar}, pages = {342-63}, publisher = {25}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate latent heterogeneity in long-term trajectories of body weight in older adults.

METHODS: We analyzed 14-year longitudinal data on 10,314 older adults from the Health and Retirement Study. Semiparametric mixture models identified latent subgroups of similar trajectories of body mass index (BMI).

RESULTS: Five distinct trajectory subgroups emerged: normal starting-BMI with accelerated increase over time (trajectory $\#$1), overweight and increasing (trajectory $\#$2), borderline-obese and increasing (trajectory $\#$3), obese and increasing (trajectory $\#$4), and morbidly obese with decelerating gain (trajectory $\#$5). Blacks and Hispanics had greater risk of membership in ascending high-BMI trajectory groups. Females had approximately half the risk of following overweight and obese increasing BMI trajectories compared with males.

DISCUSSION: Distinct latent subgroups of BMI trajectories and significant racial/ethnic and gender trajectory heterogeneity exist in the older adult population. The propensity of men and minorities to experience high-risk BMI trajectories may exacerbate existing disparities in morbidity/ mortality in older age.

}, keywords = {Aging, Black or African American, Body Mass Index, Female, Hispanic or Latino, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, Obesity, Obesity, Morbid, Overweight, Risk Factors, Sex Distribution, United States}, issn = {1552-6887}, doi = {10.1177/0898264312468593}, author = {Anda Botoseneanu and Jersey Liang} }