Abstract des Autors

Limited information is available on the structural characteristics of active older adults. This study investigated the structural characteristics of moderately active older women (N = 17; age 68.2+/- 1.5 yrs) and sedentary older women (N = 27; age 67.2 +/- 1.5 yrs). Comparisons were also made to a reference sample of younger women (N = 193; age 21.7 +/- 0.13 yrs). The moderately active women were selected from a group of seniors participating in a biweekly apartment exercise program. The sedentary women were matched with the active women according to age, similar apartment accomodation and absence of a regular exercise pattern. Forty-five anthropometric measurements were taken on each subject. These measures included various lengths, widths, girths, and skinfolds. From these data somatotype characteristics and proportionality profiles were developed. Size, shape and proportionality assessments indicate that older women when compared to younger women were more endomesomorphic, had smaller absolute measures and were proportionally larger in skinfolds, smaller in girths but larger in bone breadths. The active older women appeared to have more youthful structural characteristics than their less active matched control subjects. The effects of selectivity and training in older adult women remains to be addressed. Verf.-Referat