The Fat & the Lean

Tables of average heights and weights for children have been so overpromoted that many mothers spend their time jittering needlessly about whether a youngster is up to par. But doctors have never studied data on averages for people at the upper end of the life span. Last week Dr. Arthur M. Master presented the A.M.A. with revealing data on oldsters aged 65 to 94. The tables were compiled at Manhattan's Mount Sinai Hospital from information on 2,925 men and 2,694 women all over the U.S.

In the 65-69 bracket, the tables showed, men average 5 ft. 8 in. tall, weigh 159 Ibs. Height remains constant through ages 85-89, but by then the average weight has dropped to 148 Ibs. In the early 905, men average an inch shorter and tip the scales at a wispy 136 Ibs. Women aged 65-69 average 5 ft. 3 in. tall and weigh 141 Ibs.; those in the upper 80s are an inch shorter and weigh 120 Ibs.

What does this mean for oldsters' health? Purpose of the tables, said Dr. Master, is to show the tie-up between excess weight and diabetes, gall-bladder trouble, and diseases of the heart, arteries and kidneys. Already evident, he said, is that in both sexes after 65, blood pressure goes up with weight, but has little or no relationship to height alone. And despite the popular belief that tall people die younger, height has nothing to do with longevity. Weight is the villain, Dr. Master concluded. "It is clear that obesity reduces the life span, and the outlook for thin persons is more favorable." That average weights are so much less in the most aged might indicate that these individuals have actually lost some weight, but more significant, Dr. Master suggested, is the fact that the fat die younger.

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