[Effect of age on body composition in healthy Beijing women].
OBJECTIVE
To observe the effect of age and menstrual status on body composition in healthy Beijing women.


METHODS
We measured body composition with dual-energy X-ray (GE Lunar Prodigy) in 316 healthy Beijing females aged 20 to 74 years (5-7 cases per age). Parameters provided by the software were as following: total body bone mineral content, lean mass, fat mass and fat percentage (%fat). Local regions measured included arm, leg, trunk, android region and gynoid region. Body mass index (BMI), fat mass index (FMI), free fat mass index (FFMI) and A/G were calculated. Volunteers were assigned to 6 groups according age by every ten years a group.


RESULTS
BMC peaked during the 4th decade, LM peaked during the 5th decade, with a decline of 18.1% and 5.2% respectively at age 74 years. Total body fat mass and %fat showed a general increase with aging throughout the studied age range. Total body fat mass increased from 16+/-5 kg at age 20-29 years to 24+/-6 kg at age 70-74 years, while %fat increased from 31.3% to 39.5%. All local region %fat increased with aging at different extents. Android region %fat showed the largest raise extent (32.2%). BMI increased gradually from 21.1 kg/m2 at age 20-29 years to 26.1 kg/m2 at age 70-74 years. FMI changed more obviously than FFMI. A/G increased from 0.85 at age 20-29 years to 1.02 at age 70-74 years. Different menstrual status in women of 40-59 years had obvious effect on A/G and BMC (P<0.05), while it had no significant effect on BMI, body weight and waist circumference (P>0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Aging and menstrual status have evident effect on body composition distribution in healthy Beijing women.
Chen
Rong
R
Department of Obstetric and Gynecology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China.
Lin
Shou-qing
SQ
Lin
Xia
X
Chen
Yan
Y
Yang
Qiu-hong
QH
Zhou
Yong
Y
Zhang
Ying
Y
D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon / Q000379:methods; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001823:Body Composition / Q000502:physiology*; D050218:Body Fat Distribution; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D015519:Bone Density / Q000502:physiology*; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008598:Menstruation / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged