Age changes in weight and linear measurements of the two communities of Punjab (India) with special reference to senescence.

A cross-sectional study of morphological age changes with special reference to senescence has been conducted on the females of the Jat-Sikh and Bania communities of Punjab (India). These two communities are endogamous at caste level. The Jat-Sikh is traditionally an agriculturist community, mostly residing in the villages, whereas the Bania is traditionally a trading community and is living in cities. The data were collected during 1975-76 on 502 Jat-Sikh and 510 Bania females, ranging in age from 20 to 80 years. Weight, stature, sitting height and subischial length have been reported in the present paper. A peak in weight of 54.53 kg at age-group 40-44 in Jat-Sikhs and 58.01 kg at age-group 45-49 in Banias have been observed after which a decline sets in. The stature as been found to decrease continuously with advancing age from age group 20-24 in Bania and 30-34 in Jat-Sikhs up to age group 70+ giving a total decrement of 5.78 cm in Jat-Sikhs and 8.66 cm in Banias. Sitting height seems to play a major role in the shrinkage of stature contributing about 4.50 cm in Jat-Sikhs and 6.71 cm in Banias, whereas subischial length has been found to decrease only by 1.65 cm in Jat-Sikhs and 1.95 cm in Bania females. The females of the present series have been compared with American, British and rural Colombian females.