Technology in body composition: considerations for a traditional, elderly Indonesian population

Body composition has been measured in a group of elderly people living in nursing home care in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Anthropometric techniques were used to measure height, weight, waist and hip circumference, and skinfolds at four sites (triceps, biceps, suprailiac and subscapula). Body fat was determined with the equations of Durnin and Womersley, although difficulties were encountered because of the age and leanness of some of the subjects. The average age of the subjects was 73.0± 7.5 years (n=20) and 73.4± 5.4 (n= 15) for males and females respectively. The average body mass index (BMI) was 18.2 kg/m2 for both groups. The mean total body fat and waist/hip ratio for the males was 8.8 kg and 0.86; corresponding results for the females were 12.3 kg and 0.77. The results demonstrate the limitations of these techniques, when they are applied to an elderly population for which appropriate standards are not available.