O Mundo da Saúde (Jan 2020)
Body composition and nutritional status of active and sedentary elderly people: are gender and age intervening factors?
Abstract
Considering the functional changes and in view of the changes in body composition to which the elderly are exposed, it is necessary to conduct studies that seek to verify the influence of variables such as sex and age on body composition and nutritional status in this population. This study compared body composition and nutritional status among physically active and sedentary elderly people according to sex and age. 651 elderly users of Basic Health Units in Maringá-PR participated, who answered the Mini Nutritional Assessment and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests (p<0.05). The results showed that irregularly active men had a lower weight, waist circumference and body mass index than active and sedentary men. Sedentary men had a greater hip circumference than the other groups, while the active ones had a higher score in the mini nutritional assessment. Active women had a lower waist-to-hip ratio than irregularly active and sedentary women. In addition, irregularly active men reported a poorer nutritional status than active and sedentary men. It was concluded that the level of physical activity can be considered an intervening factor in the body composition of the elderly, especially among males, in addition to interfering in the nutritional status of the elderly over 70 years old.
