Anthropometric and body composition characteristics in geriatric population with special reference to the Asian Indians: A systematic review

The process of biological ageing is characterized by vast alternations in physiological and nutritional characteristics and shows immense variation in its onset and survival in different populations. Besides clinical examinations, anthropometric and body composition measurements hold a crucial role to monitor malnutrition, determining the doses of drugs, and examining the improvements after nutrition therapy. The present study aims to review the worldwide variation in anthropometry and body composition characteristics to assess the health and nutritional condition of the geriatric population with special reference to the Asian Indian population. 48 works of literature were retrieved using Google Scholar, PUBMED, and Research Gate and manual searching. Body mass index declined with age; waist-hip-ratio increased with age indicating abdominal obesity with special notation among the males. Percentage body fat and fat mass increased with age predominantly in females. Nutritional, psychological, cardiovascular, and cardio-metabolic disorders and age-related hormonal alternations have significant impacts on the anthropometric and body composition characteristics.