ANTHROPOMETRY AND ADIPOSITY IN A GROUP OF PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC MENTAL-ILLNESS

Objective: The prevalence of excess body weight has been reported as t wo to four times greater in the chronic mentally ill than in the gener al population. However, there has been a paucity of body composition r esearch with this population. The purpose of this study was to compare with population data the prevalence and distribution of body fat in a group of chronic mentally ill individuals. Method: An anthropometric profile consisting of height, weight, waist and hip girths was complet ed on 29 males and 23 females. Results: Consistent with other groups w ith excess adiposity, measures of skinfold thickness were generally un reliable. The biceps was the only site where a reliable skinfold measu re was possible in all subjects. More than half of the males and three -quarters of the females had a waist circumference in excess of 100 cm . Conclusions: There were significantly higher levels of relative body weight and excess abdominal adiposity in the study group compared wit h the wider population. A brief anthropometric protocol of waist and h ip girths and biceps skinfold in addition to height and weight, rather than the use of weight alone as an indicator of adiposity, is recomme nded.