Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T18:53:18.945Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

ANTHROPOMETRIC, BODY COMPOSITION AND HEALTH DETERMINANTS OF ACTIVE AGEING: A GENDER APPROACH

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2011

PILAR MONTERO LÓPEZ
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain
ROCÍO FERNÁNDEZ-BALLESTEROS
Affiliation:
Department of Psychobiology and Health, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain
MARÍA DOLORES ZAMARRÓN
Affiliation:
Department of Psychobiology and Health, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain
SANTIAGO RODRÍGUEZ LÓPEZ
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain

Summary

This study applied a gender perspective to establish some of the anthropometric, body composition, health and socio-cultural determinants of active ageing. The variable ‘active ageing’ (presence/absence) was created based on cognitive and disability/illness/physical functioning, subjective health, satisfaction with life and productive activity performed, and used in predictive models to establish its relationship with anthropometric variables, physical health indicators and educational level. The sample consisted of 456 home-living individuals (169 men and 287 women; age range 54–75 years) from Madrid and Toledo in Spain. The women had a higher prevalence of obesity than the men (37.6% vs 29.0%), significantly greater fat accumulation in the abdominal area and worst perceived health (p=0.003). The frequency of active agers is higher in men than in women (38.4% vs 21.9%; p<0.001). Men and women were found to have distinctive ageing patterns. Health factors condition the presence of active ageing in women, while education factors are also relevant in men.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abrams, A. S. (2003) Normal acquisition and loss of bone mass. Hormone Research 60, 7176.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Adams, J. M. & Whithe, M. (2004) Biological ageing. A fundamental, biological link between socio-economic status and health? European Journal of Public Health 14, 331334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andrews, G. R., Sidorenko, A., Gutman, J., Gray, V., Anisimov, V., Bezrukov, V. et al. (2006) Research on ageing: priorities for the European region. Advances in Gerontology 18, 714.Google ScholarPubMed
Arbonés, G., Carbajal, A., Gonzalvo, B., González-Gross, M., Joyanes, M., Marques-Lopes, I. et al. (2003) Nutrición y recomendaciones dietéticas para personas mayores. Grupo de trabajo “Salud pública” de la Sociedad Española de Nutrición (SEN). Nutrición Hospitalaria 18, 109137.Google Scholar
Arking, R. (1998) The Biology of Aging. 2nd edition. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland.Google Scholar
Arsenault, B. J., Rana, J. S., Lemieux, I., Després, J. P., Kastelein, J. J., P., Boekhold, S. M. et al. (2010) Physical inactivity, abdominal obesity and risk of coronary heart disease in apparently healthy men and women. International Journal of Obesity 34, 340347.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Atlantis, E., Martin, S. A., Haren, M. T., Taylor, A. W. & Wittert, G. A. (2008) Lifestyle factors associated with age-related differences in body composition: the Florey Adelaide Male Aging Study (FAMAS). American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 88, 95104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumgartner, R. N. (2000) Body composition in healthy aging. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 904, 437448.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bigaard, J., Thomsen, B. L. & Tjønneland, A. (2004) Does waist circumference alone explain obesity-related health risk? American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 80, 790791.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bray, G., Bouchard, C. & James, W. P. T. (1998) Definitions and proposed current classifications of obesity. In Bray, G., Bouchard, C. & James, W. P. T. (eds) Handbook of Obesity. Marcel Dekker, New York, pp. 3140.Google Scholar
Cereda, E., Bertoli, S., Vanotti, A. & Battezzati, A. (2010) Estimated height from knee-height in Caucasian elderly: implications on nutritional status by Mini Nutritional Assessment. Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging 14, 1622.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Angelis, C. D. & Winker, M. A. (2001) Women's health – filling the gaps. Journal of the American Medical Association 285, 15081509.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Depp, C. A. & Jeste, D. V. (2006) Definitions and predictors of successful ageing: a comprehensive review of larger quantitative studies. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 14, 620.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (2001) Executive summary of the third report of the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (Adult Treatment Panel III). Journal of the American Medical Association 285, 24862497.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fernández-Ballesteros, R. (2008) Active Aging. The Contribution of Psychology. Hogrefe & Huber, Gottingën.Google Scholar
Fernández-Ballesteros, R., Zamarrón, M., López-Bravo, M. D., Molina, M. A., Díez-Nicolás, J., Montero, P. & Schettini, R. (2010) Envejecimiento con éxito: Criterios y predictores. Psichothema 22, 641647.Google Scholar
Folstein, M. F., Folstein, S. & Mchugh, P. R. (1975) Mini-Mental State: a practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinicians. Journal of Psychiatric Research 12, 189198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harper, G. J. & Crews, D. E. (2000) Aging, senescence and human variation. In Stinson, S., Bogin, B., Huss-Ashmore, R. & O'Rourke, D. (eds) Human Biology. An Evolutionary and Biocultural Perspective. John Wiley, pp. 465505.Google Scholar
Instituto de Estadística de la Comunidad de Madrid (IECM) (2001) URL: http://www.madrid.org/iestadis/fijas/estructu/demograficas/censos/icenso01demo.htmGoogle Scholar
Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) (1999) Encuesta sobre Discapacidades, Deficiencias y Estado de Salud. Avance de Resultados. Datos Básicos. URL: http://www.ine.esGoogle Scholar
Janssen, I., Baumgartner, R., Ross, R., Rosenberg, I. H. & Roubenoff, R. (2004a) Skeletal muscle cutpoints associated with elevated physical disability risk in older men and woman. American Journal of Epidemiology 159, 413421.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Janssen, I., Katzmarzyk, P. T. & Ross, R. (2004b) Waist circumference and not body mass index explains obesity-related health risk. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 79, 379384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lavery, D. & Lee, M. (2009) Effects of early life on elderly health. Today's Research on Aging 16, 15.Google Scholar
Lher, U. (1982) Socio-psychological correlates of longevity. Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics 3, 102147.Google Scholar
López-Jimenez, F. (2009) Speakable and unspeakable facts about BMI and mortality. Lancet 373, 10551056.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mutsert, R., Jager, K. J., Zoccali, C. & Dekker, W. (2009) The effect of joint exposures: examining the presence of interaction. Kidney International 75, 677681.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nobre de Menezes, T. & Nunes, M. F. (2005) Anthropometry of elderly people living in geriatric institutions, Brasil. Revista de Saúde Pública 39, 169175.Google Scholar
Peel, N. M., McClure, R. J. & Bartlett, H. P. (2005) Behavioral determinants of healthy aging. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 28, 298304.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Perissinotto, E., Pisent, C. & Sergi, G. (2002) Anthropometric measurements in the elderly: age and gender differences. British Journal of Nutrition 87, 177186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rebato, E. (2007) The secular trend in physical anthropology. In Blaha, P., Susanne, C. & Rebato, E. (eds) Essentials of Biological Anthropology. Karolinum, Praga, pp. 260269.Google Scholar
Rosenberg, I. (1997) Sarcopenia: origins and clinical relevance. Journal of Nutrition 127, 990991S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ross, R. & Després, J. P. (2009) Abdominal obesity, insulin resistance, and the metabolic syndrome: contribution of physical activity/exercise. Obesity 3, S12.Google Scholar
Rowe, J. W. & Khan, R. L. (1987) Human aging: usual and successful. Science 237, 143149.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rowe, J. W. & Kahn, R. L. (1997) Successful aging. Gerontologist 37, 433440.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schroots, J. J., F., Fernández-Ballesteros, R. & Rudinger, G. (1999) Aging in europe: perspectives and prospects. In Schroots, J. F., Fernández-Ballesteros, R. & Rudinger, G. (eds) Aging in Europe. IOS Press, Amsterdam, pp. 18.Google Scholar
Siegrist, J., Knesebeck, O. & Pollack, C. E. (2004) Social productivity and well-being of older people: a sociological exploration. Social Theory & Health 2, 243263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skrzypczak, M., Szwed, A., Pawlinska-Chmara, R. & Skrzypulec, V. (2008) Association of body mass index, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, and waist-to-height ratio with menopausal status, age, socio-demographic, and life style factors in polish women. In Bodzsar, E. B. & Susanne, C. (eds) Ageing Related Problems in Past and Present Populations. Plantin Publ. & Press Ltd, Budapest, pp. 143158.Google Scholar
Teller, C., Sibrian, R., Talavera, C., Bent, V., Del Canto, J. & Saenz, L. (1979) Population and nutrition: implications of sociodemographic trends and differentials for food and nutrition policy in Central America and Panama. Ecology of Food and Nutrition 8, 95109.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Verbrugge, L. M. (1985) Gender and health: an update on hypotheses and evidence. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour 26, 156182.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vercauteren, M. (2005) Evolución secular en el siglo XX. In Blaha, P., Susanne, C. & Rebato, E. (eds) Essentials of Biological Anthropology. Karolinum, Praga, pp. 547564.Google Scholar
WHO (2002) Active Aging. A Policy Framework. World Health Organization, Geneva.Google Scholar
WHO (2006) Global Database on Body Mass Index. URL: http://apps.who.int/bmi/index.jspGoogle Scholar