Anthropometric characteristics of elderly individuals participating in sports competitions

Objective: to determine the anthropometric profile (height, weight, body mass index, body fat mass, waist and hip circumference) of participants in the sports competitions of the 2009 Colombian Olympics of the elderly. Materials and methods: cross-sectional study, random probabilistic sampling of 217 individuals between 60 and 85 years of age. Participants were from 13 regions of Colombia. The study was conducted in Palestina and Caldas, Colombia in August of 2009. Body mass, skinfold thickness, waist circumference, body mass index (BMI) and body fat mass were measured. Height was estimated using knee height. Results: according to BMI, 45,6% of the participants were overweight and 17,2% were obese. Average body fat mass in men was 19,4± 5,0% and in women 27,7± 9,1%. Based on waist circumference, cardiovascular risk was 70,7% in men and 82,4% in women. Conclusions: despite the participation of study individuals in physical activity programs, the proportion of persons with metabolic risk, overweight and obesity was high. Some of them were higher than the data from the latest Colombian Survey for individuals between 50 and 64 years of age.