title: Anthropometric survey of the elderly in south-western Nigeria.
abstract: One hundred and ninety-four subjects aged 65-78 years from rural and urban areas of the south-western region of Nigeria have been surveyed for height, weight, upper arm, hip and waist circumferences. The 24-hour dietary recall technique was also employed to assess their dietary energy intake. In both rural and urban cohorts, male subjects were significantly taller and weighed more (p < 0.05) than female subjects. There were no significant differences in the height of rural groups and their respective urban groups, although urban males and females weighed significantly (p < 0.05) more than their respective rural counterparts. Mean body mass index (BMI) ranged from 18.4 to 21.1 kg m(-2), and 73% of all subjects had a BMI below 20% and 10% were below 18.5. Waist, hip and upper arm circumferences of urban cohorts consistently exceeded those of rural subjects, although only for females were these differences statistically (p < 0.05) significant. Significant differences observed in the energy intake (per kg body weight) are offered as one explanation for the superior anthropometric indices of urban as compared with rural elderly in Nigeria.
authors.affiliation: Department of Home Sciences and Management, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria.
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Oguntona
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kuku
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000886:Anthropometry; D001824:Body Constitution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009549:Nigeria; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors