Height and body weight in the elderly. I. A 25-year longitudinal study of a population aged 70 to 95 years

Objective: To describe longitudinal changes in height and body weight betwe en the ages of 70 and 95 y. Design: Longitudinal cohort study with representative sample of 70-y-olds. Setting: Department of Geriatric Medicine, Goteborg University, Sweden. Subjects: 449 males and 524 females, aged 70 y, living in Goteborg were exa mined in 1971-72 and this study population participated on 11 occasions dur ing a 25-year follow-up. Results: Mean height decreased 4 and 4.9 cm in males and females respective ly and the trend was significant between the ages of 70 and 95 y in both se xes. Between 70 and 75 y of age, a significant difference was found between quintiles of body height where in the highest quintile height was lowered by 0.4 and 0.3 cm/y, in males and females respectively, and in the lowest q uintile by 0.1 cm/y in both sexes. Mean body weight decreased 3.2 and 5.1 k g in males and females respectively, from age 70 to 95 y. The trend was sig nificant over 22 and 20 y for males and females, respectively. Between the ag;es of 70 and 80 y, individuals in highest quintile of body weight decrea sed at a rate of 0.8 and 0.6 kg/y, three times higher than those in lowest quintile. Due to the decrease in both height and weight over time, body mas s index (BMI) was less affected. Conclusion: Height, body weight and BMI decreased significantly in both sex es after age 70 y, and there was a gender difference in the trend. The resu lts can be used as reference data for Swedish elderly and might be of impor tance to the understanding of anthropometry with the ageing process.