Watch your shape as you age!

Researchers in the UK studied nearly 15,000 people 75 years or older to evaluate the usefulness of different body measurements as health indicators.

Traditionally the same body mass index (BMI) guidelines have been used for older and younger people; that is people with a BMI of 25 or more have increased health risks.

However, the researchers found that for older people, who tend to be heavier, the waist-to-hip (WHR) ratio was a more useful indicator than both BMI and waist measurement by itself. WHR measures body shape and to a lesser degree, body fatness in the lower trunk. High risk groups in this age group were men with WHR >0.99 and women with WHR >0.90.

Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, August 2006