Abstract
The upper arm anthropometric parameters used in assessing protein-calorie malnutrition were measured and evaluated in elderly persons aged above 65 years. Subjects were two populations; population A, who felt well subjectively: 43 males and 69 females, and population B, who visited a clinic for legal health examination: 69 males and 132 females respectively. In males, for the total study group, measurements of arm circumference (AC), triceps skin fold (TSF), and arm muscle circumference (AMC) were reduced with aging in each population. For selected “healthy” subgroups, fulfilled criteria of weight within 20% of “ideal”, and hemoglobin and other serum values within a specified range, AC and AMC decreased similarly with aging. AMC values of two male “healthy” subgroups were assessed at level of nearly “slight protein malnutrition”, based on Japanese standard in Kon's report. In female both populations, for each total study group, three measurements of the upper arm decreased as subjects advanced in age, but for the “healthy” subgroups, decreases of those parameters were not observed. The difference of change of AMC with aging between males and females was more clearly compared with other published reports. It is pointed out that further inquiry should be necessary to confirm that difference in large subjects.
