CHANGES IN PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND BODY-COMPOSITION DURING 5-YEAR FOLLOW-UP IN 75 AND 80-YEAR-OLD MEN AND WOMEN

A five-year longitudinal study was conducted to examine the changes ob served in the physical characteristics and body composition assessed b y bioimpedance in 75- and 80-year-old men and women. During the follow -up, there was a systematic decline in body height in all groups studi ed, the mean changes being somewhat higher in women (1.3-1.6 cm) than in men (0.9-1.1 cm). Body weight and lean body mass declined in women in both age groups and in men in the younger group, whereas no signifi cant changes were observed in the 80-year-old men. The relative propor tion of body fat did not change with increasing age in any of the grou ps studied. Among 80-year-olds, the men participating in the follow-up showed some tendency to have more fat in the baseline than those who subsequently died, while the corresponding group of women tended to be somewhat taller than the other drop-outs. The results support the ear lier observations on the age-related decrease in body height, and in t he case of women, also on reduced body weight and lean body mass with old age.