Demographic trends in mid-arm circumference in children and adults over a 35-year period

Abstract

Upper mid-arm circumference, measured in a standard way, has been used as an indicator of nutrition, for tracking malnutrition and obesity in populations and as a guide to proper sized cuff selection in the indirect measure of blood pressure. There are few published national data from which to observe changes in arm circumference over time that are gender-specific, in a wide range of ages from infancy through old age. The present chapter presents such detailed tables for the United States for the first time. The span of time covered is 35 years, from 1971 to 2006. Arm circumference adjusted for age and gender increased steadily over the earlier parts of this period but shows some signs of leveling off in the most recent periods. The increase over time has been greater among children and young adults than among older age groups. The increase in mid-arm circumference is mirrored both by an increase in stature and an increase in obesity. Detailed age-sex-specific tables are presented.