Age Trends in anthropometric characteristics among an elderly population of Bengalee Hindu males in Calcutta, India

Abstract

A cross-sectional investigation of 210 Bengalee Hindu elderly men (aged-55 years and above) of Kalighat, Calcutta, India, was undertaken to study age trends in 15 anthropometric measures. The subjects were categorized into three groups: Group 1: 55-59 years (n = 40); Group 11: 60-69 years (n = 90), and Group 111: 70 years and above (n = 80). Results revealed that there were significant group differences with Group III (G III) having significantly lower means for most variables compared with Group I (G I). Individuals in Group II (G II) had intermediate values between G I and G III. Correlation studies demonstrated that there was a significantly decreasing trend, from G I to G III, in the relationship of age with these measures. It was observed that while age had a significant positive effect on fat mass (FM) in G I, it had significant negative effect in G II and G III. Age also had significant negative effect on percent body fat (PBF) and fat mass index (FMI) in G II. In G III, age had significant negative effect on arm muscle circumference (AMC), arm muscle area (AMA) and FMI. Results also revealed that PBF had significant negative correlations with AMC and AMA in age G I and G II, but not in G III. In general, there was a increasing trend of correlation between these measures from G I to G III. In G II the strength of the correlations were intermediate between G I and G III. Discriminant analysis showed that overall, 71.1% of all cases were correctly classified using these anthropometric measures. None of the individuals in G I and G III were misclassified into G III and G I, respectively. There was better discrimination in G 111 (87.5%) than in G 11 (74,4%) and G 1 (62.5%).