Does BMI Really Matter to Our Overall Health? Findings from a Cross-sectional Analysis of Middle-aged and Older Adults in India

We explored the association of body mass index (BMI) with overall health among middle-aged and older Indian adults. The cross-sectional sample included 42,575 respondents (45 years) from the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI), Wave 1 (2017-18), including middle-aged (23,811) and older adults (18,764). Overall health was assessed by using 19 health indicators, including 10 chronic diseases. Binary logistic regressions were utilized to examine the effect. The overweight and obese older adults were associated with higher life satisfaction (LS), happiness, better handgrip strength (HGS), better cognition (CS), and less insomnia, less depression but a higher prevalence of chronic diseases, i.e., hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, bone or joint diseases, dementia, cholesterol, and vision problems, compared to a normal BMI. In contrast, middle-aged and older adults who were underweight were less likely to have major chronic diseases, but all of their other health conditions were worse than the normal BMI. However, the association between BMI and stroke, cancer, or dementia showed no significant difference due to lower incidence. The results did not show much difference between middle-aged and older adults. The results stress the potential association between BMI and several health measures among middle-aged and older adults, which in the future may help in controlling BMI to achieve successful aging in India.