Influência do estilo de vida ativo na composição corporal de mulheres idosas

Abstract

Aging lead to several morphological changes mainly associated to body composition. In general, there is a reduction of lean mass and an increase in fat mass. This process is more evident after 40 years old, thus being more apparent in older people. It is known that lean mass reduction is the main responsible for losing mobility and functional capacity. As a result, the individual can become more fragile and dependent. Conversely, fat mass increases also can raise the risk for older adults developing several unhealthy conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to identify what factors could attenuate such negative changes with aging. One factor that can prevent these negative effects is the maintenance of an active life style. Studies shown that active older adults have higher levels of lean mass, and lower levels of fat mass when compared with their inactive peers. For this reason, the purpose of this study is to compare body composition between inactive and active older women and then to suggest strategies to promote an active life style. Forty-four older women participated in this investigation, with mean age of 66.0±4.5 years old, mass and mean body height 65.0kg±12.9kg, e 1.57m±0.05m and IMC 25.7 kg/m²±5.6 kg/m². Body composition was analyzed by DXA equipment. It was observed that active older women have higher levels of lean mass in all components (lean mass left arm=1866.9g, lean mass right arm =2066.9g, lean mass trunk=22380.8g, lean mass left leg=5979.2g, lean mass right leg=6083.7g, lean mas subtotal=38762.0g) and lower percentage of body fat, especially in lower limb (%fat subtotal left leg=42.2, %fat subtotal right leg=42.5), when compared with inactive older women (lean mass left arm=1506.8g, lean mass right arm =1665.5g, lean mass trunk =19961.3g, lean mass left leg=5112.8g, lean mass right leg=5108.4g, lean mass subtotal=33541.3g, %fat subtotal left leg=47.0, %fat subtotal right leg=47.4). The results indicated that active older women have a better body composition than inactive older women. The higher level of body fat can lead to a better functionality and a reduction of dependency risk, which can contribute to a greater quality of life in older adults.