The reallocation of body fat toward the abdomen persists to very old age, while body mass index declines after middle age in Chinese.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBESITY AND RELATED METABOLIC DISORDERS : JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF OBESITY 1996;
20:683-7. [PMID:
8817363]
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Abstract
OBJECTIVES
Age-specific distributions of several anthropometric measurements were examined to elucidate age-associated changes.
DESIGN
Community-based cross-sectional analysis, which was performed on anthropometric data collected from members of 2769 families from November 1991 to September 1993.
SUBJECTS
2776 Chinese men and 3176 non-pregnant Chinese women.
MEASUREMENTS
Age-specific values of several obesity indices, including a general obesity index (body mass index) and obesity indices at various parts of the body, including waist-to-hip ratio, waist circumference, hip circumference, arm circumference, triceps skinfold thickness and subscapular skinfold thickness.
RESULTS
The age-specific percentile values of weight, body mass index, arm circumference, triceps skinfold thickness, subscapular skinfold thickness and hip circumference showed a gradual increase with age up to middle age, but a decline subsequently. This 'up and then down' phenomenon occurred later in women than in men. On the other hand, age-specific percentile values of waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio showed a steady increase with age from early life.
CONCLUSIONS
These data indicate that, in very old age, a greater amount of fat tends to accumulate in the abdominal region compared to the deposition in the younger age groups. This occurs despite a decrease in body weight and body mass index after middle age.
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