Abstract
Introduction: Paired cohort investigations assessing the evolution of anthropometric indices are scarce. Here we assessed the 10-year evolution of BMI, total body fat, and lean body mass in 50,019 participants aged 18–90 years at the time of first assessment.Material and Methods: A retrospective cohort study using an electronic database that contains anonymized, longitudinal data from Primary Care medical records covering the 2007–2008 and 2017–2018 periods. Total body fat was estimated using the Clínica Universidad de Navarra-Body Adiposity Estimator formula, and the Hume formula was applied to estimate lean body mass.Results: The mean BMI of participants <60 years old in the 2007–2008 period increased significantly, from 27.5 to 28.3 kg/m2 (p < 0.001). However, the BMI of older subjects decreased during the next decade, from 28.9 to 28.3 kg/m2 (p < 0.001). The estimated total body fat showed a continuous progressive increase over all ages. Finally, lean body mass showed a progressive increase until the 40s, with a plateau between 40–45 years old and an uninterrupted decrease until older ages. Also, subjects who increased their BMI by 2 kg/m2 during the 10-year period were mainly women and younger at baseline, with a lower initial BMI and total body fat in comparison with those who experienced a BMI decrease of ≥2.0 kg/m2.Conclusion: The evolutions of BMI and the estimated body compositions reported here confirm that the adverse decrease in lean body mass begins in middle age. The proportion of older subjects is important when evaluating overweight and obesity prevalence in cross-sectional studies.
Highlights
Paired cohort investigations assessing the evolution of anthropometric indices are scarce
Demographic surveys assume that body mass index (BMI) increases at the same rate among all subjects, with a distribution that remains constant across time
Older subjects showed a reduction in their BMI during the decade, decreasing from 28.9 (15.1–49.9) to 28.3 (15.0– 55.2) kg/m2 (p < 0.001)
Summary
Paired cohort investigations assessing the evolution of anthropometric indices are scarce. We assessed the 10-year evolution of BMI, total body fat, and lean body mass in 50,019 participants aged 18–90 years at the time of first assessment. The definition of obesity using BMI classification is far from perfect, as it fails to provide an accurate measure of the amount and distribution of body fat [8, 9]. For this reason, when gold standard measurements, such as dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry or magnetic resonance imaging, are not available, anthropometric indices that combine traditional measurements have been developed to estimate total body fat and abdominal adiposity [10, 11]. Multiple indices to estimate lean body mass have been developed [12]
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