Ten-year changes in anthropometric characteristics of elderly Europeans
de Groot, C.P.G.M.; Enzi, G.; Matthys, C.; Moreiras, O.; Roszkowski, W.; Schroll, M.
Journal of Nutrition Health and Aging 6(1): 4-8
2002
ISSN/ISBN: 1279-7707 PMID: 11813073 Document Number: 546825
Objective: To assess 10-year longitudinal changes in height, body weight and circumferences in elderly Europeans. Design: Longitudinal assessments including baseline measurements taken in 1988/1989 which were repeated in 1993 (follow-up) and in 1999 (final). Setting: Longitudinal data were collected from 9 European research towns: Hamme, Belgium; Roskilde, Denmark; Haguenau and Romans, France; Padua, Italy; Culemborg, Netherlands; Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal; Betanzos, Spain; and Yverdon, Switzerland. Subjects: Using standardized methodologies, data were collected from a random stratified sample of 662 elderly men and women born between 1913 and 1918. Results: On average, stature decreased by 1.5-2 cm. Mean weight changed by -2.6 to -4.2 kg in only 3 towns. An increase of at least 5 kg of body weight was observed in 13% of both men and women, whereas 23% of men and 27% women had lost at least 5 kg of their baseline weight. Such weight loss over the first 4 years of follow-up was associated with higher mortality rates in men (crude RR, 2.2; P<0.0001). Serial changes in arm circumference were small but waist circumference increased by 3-4 cm. Conclusions: Whilst small-to-modest average changes in height, body weight and circumferences emerged over SENECA's 10-year follow-up period, considerable gains and losses of body weight occurred in a significant proportion of the SENECA populations, whereby early weight loss might be predictive of subsequent survival.