Anthropometry of elderly residents in the city of São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

The article presents gender and age-specific selected anthropometric data for a representative sample of elderly Brazilians in the city of São Paulo. This was a cross-sectional, population-based household survey. A total of 1,894 older adults (men and women, > 60 years) were examined from January to March 2001. Data were presented as means and percentiles for body mass (BM); height or stature (ST); body mass index (BMI); waist (WC), hip (HC), arm (AC), and calf (CC) circumferences; triceps skinfold thickness (TST); and arm muscle circumference (AMC), and differences were described according to age (all variables) and gender (BMI). Except for HC (men), all anthropometric variables were lower in the oldest than in the youngest individuals (p < 0.01) in both genders. BMI was significantly higher (p < 0.01) in women than men (all age groups). The observations suggest that there is loss of muscle mass and redistribution and reduction of fat mass with age (both genders). The data can be used in clinical practice and epidemiological studies based on interpretation of anthropometric measurements in the elderly in São Paulo.

A study on the relationship between muscle function, functional mobility and level of physical activity in community-dwelling elderly

“…CC showed a tendency to decrease with advancing age, becoming particularly significant in older age groups (80+ years), which corroborates previous findings 6,19,20 . However, no significant associations were found between most of the lower-limb APT and AP values and CC in the evaluated subjects.…”

“…LPA was obtained via self-reported performance on the Human Activity Profile (HAP) questionnaire, which is a valid, reliable instrument that has been translated and culturally adapted for the Brazilian population 18 and allows the classification of subjects as either active, moderately active or inactive. Measurements of weight and height for Body Mass Index (BMI) calculation were carried out with a calibrated scale, and CC was obtained with a tape measure 19,20 .…”

Antropometria de idosos residentes no município de Joinville-SC, Brasil

“…Assim como em outros estudos desenvolvidos no Brasil, 11,13,[15][16][17]24,25 neste estudo também se verificou maior frequência de idosos do sexo feminino. 18 Na literatura, a maioria dos estudos observou valores médios de peso e estatura superiores para o sexo masculino.…”

“…18 Na literatura, a maioria dos estudos observou valores médios de peso e estatura superiores para o sexo masculino. 3,8,11,15 Neste estudo, não houve diferença estatisticamente significativa (p>0,05) dos valores médios de peso e estatura nos três grupos etários entre os sexos. Em contrapartida, quando avaliados em relação ao IMC, as mulheres apresentaram valores médios significativamente superiores (27, 19 para indivíduos com sobrepeso, ainda descrito como IMC igual ou superior a 25,0 kg/m 2 , a prevalência deste passou a ser caracterizada para ambos os sexos.…”

“…Entre esses países, destacam-se os Estados Unidos, a Inglaterra, a França, Itália e o México. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10] No Brasil, existem alguns estudos que investigaram as características antropométricas da população [11][12][13][14][15][16][17] Os idosos foram agrupados segundo sexo e grupo etário (60-69 anos, 70-79 anos e 80 e mais). As variáveis antropométricas foram apresentadas sob a forma de média, desvio-padrão e percentil (P5, P10, P25, P50, P75, P90 e P95).…”