Abstract
Rationale: Cross-sectional studies suggest that in the malnourished elderly weight loss involves a preferential decrease in lean body mass and body cell mass, and that fat mass is preserved. The aim of this study was to determine the evolution of body composition during weight loss in malnourished elderly patients. Method: Body composition was detemined by bipolar bicelectric impedance analysis in 17 ambulatory elderly outpatients (10 F, 7 M; 71.9 f 4.5 yr) referred for malnutrition. In all of them malnutrition was due to psychological problem and no inflammatory or catabolic diseases were diagnosed. Despite active counselling by dietitians, body weight continued to decrease; a second evaluation of body composition with the same method was performed after a median of 13 months (6 to 78 months). Results: Between the two evaluations, body mass index decreased significantly (from 18.4 f 3.2 to 16.7 f 2.4). Evolution of body composition is presented in the table. Values are expressed as mean f SD. Comparisons between evaluations wele made with paired t tests.
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