Research
Mixed
In older adults, higher abdominal adiposity (high waist circumference) is associated with increased frailty regardless of BMI, including in underweight individuals.
If you are an older adult, focus on your waist size, not just your weight. Even if you are underweight, carrying fat around your middle increases your risk of frailty. Regular physical activity can help reduce abdominal fat and improve function, independent of weight loss.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
At each BMI category, and using either measure of frailty, those with a high waist circumference were significantly more frail.
Why this rating
Large, nationally representative cross-sectional study (n=3,055) with robust adjustment for confounders, though causality is limited by cross-sectional design.
Source
Frailty, Body Mass Index, and Abdominal Obesity in Older People
Ruth E. Hubbard et al. · The Journals of Gerontology Series A · 2009
DOI 10.1093/gerona/glp186
cross_sectional · n=3055Cited 469×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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