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Effect of age on the association between body fat percentage and maximal walking speed

  • JNHA: Nutrition
  • Published:
The journal of nutrition, health & aging

Abstract

Objective

To study the effect of age on the association between body fat percentage and maximal walking speed in older people.

Design and participants

Cross-sectional analysis of data collected in the Finnish population-based Health 2000 Survey involving 916 men and 1 222 women aged 55 years and older with complete data on body composition and a walking speed test.

Methods

Body fat percentage was assessed using bioelectrical impedance analysis and maximal walking speed based on a timed walking test over a distance of 6.1 meters. Linear regression models were used to study the effect of age on association between body fat percentage and maximal walking speed.

Results

The association between body fat percentage quartiles and maximal walking speed differed significantly between persons of different ages (p for age interaction = 0.027). In the agestratified analyses, the association between body fat percentage and maximal walking speed remained significant among 60–69-year olds and 70–79-year olds, but disappeared among 55–59-year-olds and 80-year and older after adjustment for potential covariates. Body fat percentage explained 11% of the variation in maximal walking speed among 55–59-year-olds, 21% among 60–69-year-olds, 17% among 70–79-year-olds and 11% among 80-year and older.

Conclusion

Association between body fat percentage and maximal walking speed was strongest between the ages of 60 and 79 years. The results suggest that the effects of excess body fatness are especially harmful for physical functioning among adults in their sixties and seventies and they could benefit from interventions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gerontology Research Centre, Department of Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Janne Sallinen & T. Rantanen

  2. Functional Capacity Unit, Department of Health, Functional Capacity and Welfare, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland

    S. Stenholm, M. Heliöaara, P. Sainio & S. Koskinen

  3. Longitudinal Studies Section, Clinical Research Branch, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    S. Stenholm

  4. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, P.O. Box 1199, FIN-70211, Kuopio, Finland

    Janne Sallinen

Authors
  1. Janne Sallinen
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  2. S. Stenholm
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  3. T. Rantanen
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  4. M. Heliöaara
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  5. P. Sainio
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  6. S. Koskinen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Janne Sallinen.

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Sallinen, J., Stenholm, S., Rantanen, T. et al. Effect of age on the association between body fat percentage and maximal walking speed. J Nutr Health Aging 15, 427–432 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-010-0140-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-010-0140-8

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