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Height, Weight, and Body Mass Index of Elderly Persons in Taiwan

^a Graduate Institute of Public Health, Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan
^b Institute of Biomedical Science, Academic Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
^c Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei
^d Department of Family Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Taiwan

Herng-Chia Chiu, Graduate Institute of Public Health, Kaohsiung Medical University, 100 Shih-Chuan 1st Rd., Kaohsiung, 807, Taiwan E-mail: chiu{at}cc.kmu.edu.tw.

William B. Ershler, MD

Background.

In Taiwan, distributions of body composition are usually generated for children, adolescent, and middle-aged groups. This study describes three anthropometric measures (i.e., height, weight, and body mass index [BMI]) of elderly persons in Taiwan.

Methods.

The data was derived from a prospective cross-sectional, population-based geriatric survey funded by the National Department of Health in Taiwan in 1991. A total of 2,600 subjects were successfully evaluated. A descriptive analysis was performed to generate distributions of height, weight, and BMI of elderly persons. Based on these descriptive data, the prevalence of overweight and obesity was estimated, and a cross-national comparison on the prevalence of obesity was made.

Results.

Age-group-specific means and standard deviations for height, weight, and BMI of Taiwanese elderly persons were presented. By gender, the elderly men were taller and heavier than the elderly women; however, the women had a higher mean value of BMI (kg/m²). The prevalence of overweight was 27.3% in men and 34.9% in women; the prevalence of obesity was 3.2% in men and 6.4% in women. The prevalence of obesity for the elderly men and women in Taiwan was lower than in Kuwait, Sweden, the United States, and the Native Americans, but higher than in Japan.

Conclusions.

The comparison indicates cross-cultural differences existing in the prevalence of obesity, which may be due to aging, nutritional status, or environmental factors. For future research, the relationship of anthropometric data to socioeconomic status and behavioral factors will be examined.

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