Original scientific paper
Somatotype in Elderly Type 2 Diabetes Patients
Roberto Buffa
Giovanni Floris
Paolo F. Putzu
Luciano Carboni
Elisabetta Marini
Abstract
Somatotyping is a practical technique for the description of physique. Individuals with Type 2 diabetes are characterized
by physical peculiarities, such as overweight, obesity and a central pattern of body fat distribution. Somatotype applications
to diabetes are limited. The objective of this study is to describe the somatotype of elderly type 2 diabetes patients.
The sample consisted of 110 patients with type 2 diabetes (45 men, mean age 69.4±7.0 years; 65 women, mean age
72.9±7.1 years). The pathological subjects were compared with a control group consisting of 280 healthy individuals
(134 men, mean age 74.2±7.3 years; 146 women, mean age 74.9±7.4 years). The Heath-Carter somatotype was applied.
Diabetic men and women (mean somatotype, respectively: 6.8–5.6–0.6 and 8.6–6.4–0.2) presented significantly higher
values of endomorphy than the controls (p=0.043 in men, p=0.003 in women); men also had a lower mesomorphic component
(p=0.000). The somatotype method revealed physical peculiarities in type 2 diabetes patients. The marked endomorphy
in the pathological individuals can be related to general fatness, which is a well known disease risk factor. The
somatotype appears to be a suitable technique for the assessment of physique in type 2 diabetes patients.
Keywords
physique; ageing; health condition; Sardinia
Hrčak ID:
26887
URI
Publication date:
3.9.2007.
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