The influence of age and sex on nutritional parameters in subjects aged 60 years and over

Abstract The nutritional assessment of the elderly shows several interpretative difficulties due to the lack of standard parameters. Moreover chronic age-related diseases can interfere with the physiological nutritional status. Anthropometric (triceps skinfold, arm muscle area, total body muscle mass, fat mass and Body Mass Index (BMI)), biochemical (serum prealbumin, transferrin, ceruloplasmin, total protein and albumin) and immunological (serum lymphocytes) parameters were measured in 583 out-patients aged 60 years or over selected on the basis of clinical and biochemical criteria and with BMI ≤ 30. The subjects were classified into four age-groups (60–64, 65–69, 70–74, ≥ 75) for each sex. The F-test analysis for all anthropometric parameters except BMI showed significant differences with respect to age ( P P P P P P P