The aim of this study was to investigate the change in women’s somatotype with aging. The subjects were 1,123 women aged 40~69. Their anthropometric data were from the 6th Size Korea. The data were analyzed by factor analysis and cluster analysis. Seven factors were extracted: body mass, body length, back shoulder, arm length factor, front interscye factor, body rise factor, and shoulder angle. The upper body types of middle-aged and elderly women were classified into five types: skinny, short stout body type with forward posture, composite, tall & full body type, and short & skinny. The skinny and composite body type appeared more often than the short stout body type in the early 40s of Korean women. Starting in the mid-50s, composite body type was less often found. However, the number of women with short stout body type increased. In the 60s, the number of women with short stout and tall & full body types decreased. These results reveal that the body types of middle-aged and elderly women changed with some pattern with aging. And women in their early 40s, mid-50s, and 60s women had different body shapes and postures.

This study was conducted to assess blood components caused by metabolic syndrome increasing in postmenopausal elderly women. The blood samples of these subjects were analyzed to investigate the correlation of plasma taurine levels and plasma homocysteine levels, and serum lipid profiles. The subjects were 33 elderly women(72.8±4.4 years). Their mean height, weight and BMI were 150.5±5.7㎝, 57.5±6.3㎏ and 25.4±2.5㎏/㎡. 16 women of this study subjects have been chronic diseases such as hypertension or diabetes. Their fasting blood glucose was 98.2±24.0㎎/㎗, and their plasma total cholesterol (TC), HDL-C, LDL-C, triglyceride(TG) were 216.5±29.9, 52.1±10.7, 145.7±27.9 and 141.2±59.6㎎/㎗, respectively. Their blood lipid profiles were higher than the standard levels of metabolic syndrome, thus these levels of lipid profiles may play a role as risk factors on the elderly person. Plasma taurine level of the subjects was 278.5±48.1 μMol/ℓ, and their plasma homocysteine level was 12.8±2.9 μMol/ℓ. The concentration of plasma vitamin B12 was significantly decreased by aging(p<0.05). The correlation of plasma homocysteine and plasma folate showed significantly negative(p<0.05). Thus, the decreased levels of plasma vitamin B12 and folate by aging might affect on the plasma homocyteine concentration acting as a risk factor of cardiovascular diseases for elderly person. The correlation of plasma taurine and hemoglobin, and their platelet showed significantly positive(p<0.05). In conclusion, the diet on the elderly person is one of the important factors to prevent their health from chronic diseases. This study recommends that well balanced diets are needed for elderly person to keep their health and prevent from metabolic syndrome.