The present study examines the relationship between Nutritional Status (NS) and Hand Grip Strength (HGS) in Indian older adults. The study used the dataset of the Longitudinal Aging Study of India, 2020 (LASI), wave I. Data of 63899 individuals - males and females, - 35,344 individuals aged 45-59 years, 25487 individuals aged 60-79 years, and 3068 individuals aged ≥ 80 years above were selected for the present study. The average of the respondents’ HGS (kg) for both hands (performed twice) was computed Body mass index (kg/m2) was calculated and categorized as per WHO recommendations for South Asians, i.e., <18.5 as Underweight, 18.5-22.9 as Normal, 23-24.9 as At risk, 25-29.9 as Obese I and ≥ 30 as Obese II. One-way ANOVA and Games-Howell post hoc analysis was performed using SPSS Grad Pack 29. One-way ANOVA confirmed the presence of significant (P<0.05) differences. In contrast, the post hoc analysis revealed that there were significant (P<0.05) differences in HGS (kg) in individuals with different nutritional status. HGS significantly (P<0.05) differs with nutritional status in Indian older adults. These findings suggest the importance of maintaining a healthy nutritional status in older adults to preserve hand grip strength and overall physical function.
Indian older adults, Hand grip strength, Nutritional status, Functional ability, Ageism
