Table 1.
Physical Characteristics of the Participants
| Characteristic | 20–34 Years 20 Men/27 Women |
Young vs Aged (p Value) |
60–74 Years 26 Men/23 Women |
Aged vs Nonagenarians ( p Value) |
≥ 90 Years 38 Men/36 Women |
Young vs Nonagenarians ( p Value) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, y | 27 ± 1 | 27 ± 1 | — | 69 ± 1 | 68 ± 1 | — | 92 ± 1 | 92 ± 1 | — |
| [21–34] | [21–34] | [60–74] | [61–74] | [89–97] | [90–98] | ||||
| Weight, kg | 91.6 ± 5.0 | 72.3 ± 3.8* | NS | 90.5 ± 2.6 | 76.3 ± 2.7* | < .0001 | 71.8 ± 1.3 | 60.1 ± 2.2* | < .0001 |
| [61.2–140.7] | [52.6–127.3] | [70.8–128.2] | [50.2–95.3] | [56.4–93.3] | [36.5–88.5] | ||||
| Height, cm | 170 ± 1 | 163 ± 1 | NS | 177 ± 1 | 160 ± 1 | NS | 170 ± 1 | 157 ± 1 | NS |
| [150–190] | [148–182] | [165–187] | [143–169] | [162–181] | [147–172] | ||||
| BMI, kg/m2 | 29.1 ± 1.5 | 27.2 ± 1.4 | NS | 29.4 ± 0.9 | 28.6 ± 0.7 | < .0001 | 25.1 ± 0.4 | 24.4 ± 0.8 | .0003 |
| [21.1–47.6] | [18.8–49.5] | [24.4–43.7] | [21.3–35.0] | [20.4–30.4] | [16.1–38.7] | ||||
| Percent fat | 21.6 + 2.1 | 34.4 ± 1.5* | .0002 | 27.4 ± 1.1 | 39.0 ± 1.1* | NS | 27.5 ± 0.8 | 34.3 ± 1.2* | .02 |
| [9.4–41.2] | [19.0–47.4] | [17.8–43.7] | [24.8–45.8] | [17.6–37.2] | [19.1–47.7] | ||||
| FFM, kg | 68.5 ± 2.2 | 46.3 ± 1.6* | NS | 65.3 ± 1.6 | 46.4 ± 1.7* | < .0001 | 52.1 ± 0.8 | 38.3 ± 0.9* | < .0001 |
| [49.0–85.8] | [36.4–67.4] | [51.8–85.3] | [30.9–71.0] | [41.0–64.4] | [26.9–51.7] | ||||
| FM, kg | 20.5 ± 2.9 | 25.9 ± 2.4 | 0.02 | 25.2 ± 1.8 | 30.0 ± 1.5 | < .0001 | 19.7 ± 0.8 | 21.4 ± 1.5 | NS |
| [6.9–55.9] | [10.8–60.3] | 16.9–56.0 | [15.3–41.1] | [11.8–29.6] | [7.6–42.2] | ||||
| Men and women combined | |||||||||
| RMR (kcal/d) | 1587 ± 50* | < .0001 | 1465 ± 37* | < .0001 | 1165 ± 20* | < .0001 | |||
| RMR† | 104 ± 20 | < .0001 | −24 ± 20 | .24 | −53 ± 15 | < .0001 | |||
| T3 (ng/mL) | 164 ± 6 | .0001 | 135 ± 4 | .80 | 134 ± 4 | < .0001 | |||
| T4 (ng/mL) | 8.8 ± 0.3 | .04 | 8.0 ± 0.2 | .04 | 7.4 ± 0.2 | < .0001 | |||
Notes: Values are means ± standard error of the mean with ranges in brackets.
*
Sex differences.
†
Adjusted for FFM, FM, and sex.
BMI = body mass index; FFM = fat-free mass; FM = fat mass; T3 = total triiodothyronine; T4 = fasting serum total thyroxine; RMR = resting metabolic rate; NS = not significant.