American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 7, 127-131, Copyright © 1959 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Overweight in the Aged

¹ From the Department of Internal Medicine, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia

A study of body weight on some 700 people over age 65 revealed that 11.0 per cent of males and 15.9 per cent of females were 20 per cent or more above the average weight for their heights and age. Of subjects 65 years or older 10.9 per cent of males and 8.2 per cent of females were 20 per cent or more heavier than the average weight of the 55- to 59-year-old group as presented in the average weight tables used by insurance companies. The percentage of people who are 20 per cent or more above average weight after age 65 is at least equal to that of the general population. Average weight for people in this older group tended to plateau at the 65- to 74-decade and fall thereafter. Weight histories indicated that for those within 20 per cent of average weight at the time of study, 30.9 per cent of the females and 25.5 per cent of the males had at some period exceeded the average weight by 20 per cent or more.

The data suggest that the incidence of obesity is as great or greater than among younger adults.