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The usefulness of anthropometric measurements in the assessment of nutritional status, and the relatively simple techniques involved, has led to their broad application in nutritional surveys. The information obtained from anthropometry is considered to be useful for two purposes: (a) assessment of the existing nutritional status by measuring total body mass and body composition, and (b) the follow-up for the community of trends of ecological factors, including nutrition, through periodic measurement of anthropometric characteristics of growth and development.

A study of plantar flexion strength and calf circumference in 30 conscripts is submitted. It showed an asymmetry of strength amounting to 6--11 per cent (95 per cent confidence limits). The right leg was significantly stronger than the left, but there was no difference in strength between the dominant and non-dominant leg. There was little correlation between circumference and strength.

Summary Separate measurements of bone, muscle and fat at ages up to 5 have been made from calf X-rays of 120 pairs of sibs attending the Oxford Child Health Survey. The degree of sib resemblance in these measurements and in external calf circumference is found to be high, particularly when allowance is made for unavoidable errors of measurement. Sib resemblance in respect of muscle breadth increases with age, while for fat thickness it appears to decrease. In the case of muscle there is some evidence that fluctuations in growth as well as the average rate of growth are genetically controlled. There is no evidence of sex-linkage. Correlation between different tissues in the same child is negligible. Assessments of skeletal maturity show a moderate correlation with bone diameter, but little association with muscle and none with fat. The amount of measurable sib resemblance is greater when these tissues are examined separately than when they are considered in relation to one another. The Oxford Child Health Survey was launched by the late Prof. John Ryle with assistance from the Medical Research Council; in recent years it has been directed by Dr A. M. Stewart. I am greatly indebted to Dr C. K. Westropp and Dr J. Parfit who were responsible for the clinical work of the survey, to Miss E. Roberts and Miss M. Barnes who took all the X-rays, to Drs R. M. Acheson, L. Mynors and E. Jefferson who made the assessments of skeletal maturity and to Dr J. M. Tanner for criticisms of the draft.

BACKGROUND: Studies have recently focused on the effect of running a mountain ultra-marathon (MUM) and their results show muscular inflammation, damage and force loss. However, the link between peripheral oedema and muscle force loss is not really established. We tested the hypothesis that, after a MUM, lower leg muscles' swelling could be associated with muscle force loss. The knee extensor (KE) and the plantar flexor (PF) muscles' contractile function was measured by supramaximal electrical stimulations, potentiated low- and high-frequency doublets (PS10 and PS100) of the KE and the PF were measured by transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and bioimpedance was used to assess body composition in the runners (n = 11) before (Pre) and after (Post) the MUM and compared with the controls (n = 8). RESULTS: The maximal voluntary contraction of the KE and the PF significantly decreased by 20 % Post-MUM in the runners. Hydration of the non-fat mass (NF-Hyd) and extracellular water volume (Ve) were increased by 12 % Post-MUM (p

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between three practical measures used to characterize muscle mass: mid-arm circumference, maximum calf circumference, and muscle mass index determined using bioimpedance analysis. [Subjects and Methods] Thirty-eight ambulatory women residing in a senior center (mean age, 83 years) participated in this cross-sectional study. Their mid-arm circumference and maximum calf circumference were measured bilaterally and they all underwent bioimpedance analysis. Relationships were examined by using Pearson (r) correlations, Cronbach’s alpha, and factor analysis. [Results] Circumferential measures correlated significantly with one another (r = 0.745–0.968) and with the muscle mass index determined with bioimpedance analysis (r = 0.480–0.628). The Cronbach’s alpha for the measures was 0.905. Factor analysis confirmed that all of the measures were reflective of a common construct. [Conclusion] On the basis of their correlations with one another and the muscle mass index determined with bioimpedance analysis, circumferential measures of the mid-arm or calf may be considered crude indicators of reduced muscle mass.

BACKGROUND The dynamic nature of sarcopenia, including possible transitions between its different stages, is currently unknown. We aimed to explore 12 year transitions through sarcopenia stages and identify factors associated with different sarcopenia trajectories in older adults. METHODS We included 3219 participants (aged ≥60 years, 35.8% men, 96.4% community-dwelling) from the SNAC-K study. No sarcopenia (normal muscle strength and mass), probable sarcopenia (low muscle strength and normal muscle mass), and sarcopenia (low muscle strength and mass) were assessed at baseline and up to 12 years. Such conditions were defined based on a modified version of the EWGSOP2 criteria with muscle strength evaluated through handgrip or chair stand tests, and muscle mass from calf circumference. We estimated 1, 5, and 10 year transition probabilities through continuous-time multistage Markov modelling. Sociodemographic, lifestyle, and medical factors associated with the likelihood of different transitions were evaluated with proportional intensity models, and the associations' strength was expressed as hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS Participants with no sarcopenia had 10-year probabilities of 17.1% and 5.1% to develop probable sarcopenia and sarcopenia, and a 40.4% chance of not transitioning. Those with probable sarcopenia had similar 5-year chances of developing sarcopenia (10.3%) and reverting to no sarcopenia (10.7%). Participants with sarcopenia had chances to revert to probable sarcopenia ranging from 8.2% (at 5 years) to 4.7% (at 10 years), and a 70.9% chance of dying after 10 years. Older age (HR = 1.11, 95% CI: 1.07-1.14), male sex (HR = 1.84, 95% CI: 1.16-2.91), current smoking (HR = 1.84, 95% CI: 1.16-2.91), and higher number of chronic diseases (HR = 1.07, 95% CI: 1.00-1.14) were associated with sarcopenia development, while higher levels of physical activity (HR = 1.84, 95% CI: 1.19-2.84) and cognitive function (HR = 1.17, 95% CI: 1.05-1.31 per each 1-point increase in the Mini-Mental State Examination) were associated with subsequent higher reversion rates from probable sarcopenia to no sarcopenia (P

STUDY DESIGN: cross-sectional study in otherwise healthy athletic adults with a unilateral Achilles tendon rupture. OBJECTIVES: define the relationships of active range of motion, calf circumference or number of heel raises to a full set of isokinetic parameters. BACKGROUND: Achilles tendon ruptures commonly occur during sports and create a considerable amount of morbidity. The benefits of different treatments are difficult to determine. Complex and expensive isokinetic testing is often required. If a simple force measurement could replace this testing, large clinical trials would be more easily feasible. METHODS: 74 patients with acute Achilles tendon rupture and surgical treatment were evaluated retrospectively. Active range of motion (ROM), ratio of ROM, number of heel raises, ratio of heel raises, calf circumference and isokintetic measurements were recorded. Regression using a Bayesian elastic net showed the most important correlations. RESULTS: Active range of motion showed a significant correlation to peak torque angle at flexion and extension as well as increased sports activity. There was a negative correlation to percutaneous therapy. Active Heel raise showed a positive correlation to peak torque at dorsal extension and increased sports activity as well as a negative correlation to high postoperative pain, where as calf circumference was positive correlated to peak torque at dorsal extension and body height as well as negative correlated to female gender. CONCLUSION: device independent measures, like range of Motion, and amount of Heel raise, are an excellent tool providing similar information compared to isokinetic testing and could be used to evaluate clinical outcome after Achilles tendon rupture.

Alcohol dependence is a severe mental illness and there is a need for more effective preventive and therapeutic strategies. Translational research suggests that intrauterine sex hormone exposure modulates the risk and course of alcohol dependence during adulthood. During development, sex hormones permanently shape sexually dimorphic body dimensions. Thus, these dimensions may provide insight into sex hormone organization. Here, we compared body measurements (absolute, relative to, and residualized on height) between 200 alcohol-dependent in-patients and 240 age-matched healthy control subjects and investigated how these measurements associate with the patients’ prospective 12- and 24-month outcome. The results show that alcohol dependence is related to lower absolute, relative, and residualized body measurements for height and weight, head circumference, bitragion head arc, lip-chin distance, hip, thigh, and calf circumference, and foot length and breadth. In male alcohol-dependent in-patients, higher risk, shorter latency, and more alcohol-related readmissions were predicted by higher absolute, relative, and residualized thigh and calf circumferences. The second-to-fourth finger length ratio, a putative proxy for prenatal sex hormone organization, was not convincingly correlated with the body dimensions, suggesting that the results represent pubertal (or later) effects. The study’s findings have implications for further research. The body measurements’ high accessibility may facilitate the future transition into clinical settings.

A combined open and percutaneous operative technique has been devised for repair of tendo Achillis. This minimises postoperative scarring. We compared the long-term results of 12 patients treated by this method with the results of 10 who had undergone an open repair. The combined open and percutaneous repair gave significantly better relief of symptoms during everyday activities (p < 0.05), better single-limb hopping (p < 0.02) and a greater chance of returning to sport (p < 0.01). There were no significant differences between the two treatments as regards to active range of ankle motion, calf circumference or the ability to stand on tiptoe. The new technique gave better cosmetic results.

A 16-year-old boy was seen for severe episodic muscle cramps and generalized myokymia, consistent with Isaacs's syndrome. Bilateral calf hypertrophy (46-cm calf circumference) and ankle areflexia were noted. He was treated with phenytoin sodium, 300 mg/day. Within three months there was marked decrease in myokymia, total relief of cramps, return of ankle reflexes, and 6-cm reduction in calf circumference. We suggest that the excess muscle activity in Isaacs's syndrome may be responsible for the associated phenomena of muscle hypertrophy and areflexia.

Since thrombophlebitis may provide a source of potentially fatal pulmonary emboli or may herald occult malignant conditions, its early detection can be lifesaving. As White1recently emphasized, "We must everlastingly [look to] the leg veins" in pulmonary embolism; the diagnosis can only be decided clinically.2It is generally agreed that calf measurement is an important diagnostic procedure. Although mensuration is but one of several criteria for establishing the diagnosis, it occasionally becomes crucial, for example, when the presence or degree of swelling is questionable or leg and chest pain have recently occurred. In the latter, the patient may be afebrile; physical examination shows only a difference between the two calf girths, and laboratory data and chest roentgenogram interpretation are equivocal. The frequency of such cases on the medical service of a general hospital has directed attention to the significance of difference in calf circumference. In neuromuscular diseases and

URING the course of the Nutrition Study at the Pennsylvania Hospital, physical examinations were routinely done on the infants in the study population. These examinations were performed on the newborn infants within a few days of birth and, subsequently, at ages one, two, three, six, and twelve months. The examination procedure included determination of weight and measurement of the baby's chest circumference, crown-sole length, crown-rump length, hip breadth, head circumference, and calf circumference. The analysis of the data on weight, crown-sole length, and chest circumference for the examinations up to three months of age have been presented in another paper in this series of Newborn Studies (1), and this paper will report on all measurements made at birth and at three, six, and twelve months of age. The analysis is based on the records of 1,391 singleton infants, weighing more than 5.5 Ibs. at birth, whose mothers attended the Nutrition Clinic during the years 1947-1952. Babies of mothers with syphilis or a serious chronic disease have not been included.4 Three hundred and fifty-four of the

In a study of the relationship between bodybuild and incidence of cigarette smoking, data were available from two longitudinal growth studies. Measures made at about age 18 included weight, height, biacromial diameter, biiliac diameter, and calf circumference. Some 14 years later, approximately 100 persons of each sex from this sample reported on their smoking habits, permitting their classification as nonsmokers or cigarette smokers. No statistically significant morphological differences between these groups were found for either sex on any of the five anthropometric measures. In half the sample these same measures had been made during childhood; they also showed no differences between the groups indicating no relationship between presmoking bodybuild and later smoking behavior. These findings are compared to previously published research reporting smokers to be generally larger and heavier than nonsmokers.