tailieunhanh - Selecting the best anthropometric variables to characterize a population of healthy elderly persons

Displacing older people as heads of households and depriving them of their autonomy in the name of affection are cultural norms even in countries where the family is the central institution and the sense of filial obligation is strong (11). Such infantilization and overprotection can leave the older person isolated, depressed and demoralized, and can be considered a form of abuse. In some traditional societies, older widows are abandoned and their property seized. Mourning rites of passage for widows in parts of Africa and India include practices that elsewhere would certainly be considered cruel, for example sexual violence, forced levirate marriages (where a man is obliged by custom to marry the childless widow of. | Nưtrición Hospitalaria Nutr Hosp. 2011 26 2 384-391 ISSN 0212-1611 CODEN NUHOEQ . 318 Original Selecting the best anthropometric variables to characterize a population of healthy elderly persons J. Tesedo Nieto1 E. Barrado Esteban2 and A. Velasco Martín1 department of Molecular Biology Histology and Pharmacology. Faculty of Medicine. University of Valladolid. Valladolid. Spain. department of Analytical Chemistry. Faculty of Sciences. University of Valladolid. Valladolid. Spain. Abstract The objective is to select the best anthropometric measurements to characterize a healthy elderly population. For that 1030 healthy elderly persons 508 men and 522 women living independently or in an institution in both public and private homes were enrolled for this population-based cross-sectional study conducted from February 2004 to May 2005. Anthropometric measurements were made by the same investigator according to standard techniques of the WHO. Across several age groups men were significantly heavier and taller than women whereas skinfold thicknesses were significantly greater in women than men. Through statistical analysis we were able to identify the variables providing most information and that could also best discriminate between sex age and independent versus institutionalized persons height weight one of the skinfold thickness measurements and mid-upper arm circumference. The number of age groups in both the male and female populations could be limited to three. NutrHosp. 2011 26 384-391 DOI Key words Anthropometry. Healthy elderly. Statistical analysis. SELECCIÓN DE LAS VARIABLES ANTROPOMÉTRICAS MÁS ADECUADAS PARA CARACTERIZAR UNA POBLACIÓN DE PERSONAS MAYORES SANAS Resumen El objetivo es la selección de las variables antropométri-cas más adecuadas para caracterizar poblaciones sanas de personas mayores. Para ello se han seleccionado aleatoria-mente 1030 de estas personas 508 hombres y 522 mujeres institucionalizados en residencias .