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Anthropometric characteristics of healthy Italian nonagenarians and centenarians

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 September 2009

Giovanni Ravaglia ,
Pietro Morini ,
Paola Forti ,
Fabiola Maioli ,
Federica Boschi ,
Mauro Bernardi  and
Giovanni Gasbarrini
Giovanni Ravaglia
Affiliation:
Institute of Medical Pathology and Clinical Methodology, University of Bologna, St Orsola Hospital, Via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy
Pietro Morini
Affiliation:
Institute of Medical Pathology and Clinical Methodology, University of Bologna, St Orsola Hospital, Via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy
Paola Forti
Affiliation:
Institute of Medical Pathology and Clinical Methodology, University of Bologna, St Orsola Hospital, Via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy
Fabiola Maioli
Affiliation:
Institute of Medical Pathology and Clinical Methodology, University of Bologna, St Orsola Hospital, Via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy
Federica Boschi
Affiliation:
Institute of Medical Pathology and Clinical Methodology, University of Bologna, St Orsola Hospital, Via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy
Mauro Bernardi
Affiliation:
Institute of Medical Pathology and Clinical Methodology, University of Bologna, St Orsola Hospital, Via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy
Giovanni Gasbarrini
Affiliation:
Institute of Medical Pathology and Clinical Methodology, University of Bologna, St Orsola Hospital, Via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy
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Abstract

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Available anthropometric reference values for elderly people do not include specific norms for over-90-year-old subjects despite their increasing number. In the present study, weight, height and a number of anthropometric variables related to body muscle and fat mass were collected from fifty-seven nonagenarian and forty-one centenarian healthy, non-institutionalized subjects living in an Italian area. Recumbent anthropometry was used to avoid errors associated with impaired mobility. Nonagenarians and centenarian men were taller and heavier than women of corresponding age and had a greater amount of muscle and trunk fat, whereas women showed a marked peripheral adipose distribution. Anthropometric values of both age-groups were generally lower than published norms for 70–89-year-old American and European elderly people. However, differences were less marked when comparing Italian nonagenarians and centenarians with French and British people aged 85 years and over than when comparing Italian subjects with American octogenarians and younger European elderly people. Taken together these findings suggest a dramatic loss of muscle and fat mass in over-90-year-old subjects with respect to younger elderly people. However, changes between successive generations and geographical influences cannot be excluded. The need for local and age-specific norms in nutritional assessment of over-90-year-old people is emphasized. It is also suggested that current anthropometric indices may not be reliable when evaluating the oldest elderly subjects.

Keywords

AnthropometryElderlyBody composition
Type
Human and Clinical Nutrition
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 77 , Issue 1 , January 1997 , pp. 9 - 17
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1997

References

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