Gender Differences in Body Composition from Childhood to Old Age: an Evolutionary Point of View.

In this cross-sectional study gender differences in body composition (relative fat mass and lean body mass adjusted by height) were analyzed among 869 girls and 780 boys aging between 6 and 18 years and 513 adult women and 412 adult men aging between 19 and 92 years. Body composition was determined by BIA method among children and adolescents and dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) among adults. It could be shown that males and females differed significantly in body composition throughout life. Even during prepuberty, girls exhibited a significantly higher amount of body fat and a significantly lower amount of lean body mass than their male counterparts. These gender differences are found throughout life. The observed results are interpreted in a proximate and an ultimate sense. Furthermore the impact of modern life style in industrialized countries is discussed

Grip Strength as an Indicator of Health-Related Quality of Life in Old Age—A Pilot Study

Over the last century life expectancy has increased dramatically nearly all over the world. This dramatic absolute and relative increase of the old aged people component of the population has influenced not only population structure but also has dramatic implications for the individuals and public health services. The aim of the present pilot study was to examine the impact of physical well-being assessed by hand grip strength and social factors estimated by social contact frequency on health-related quality of life among 22 men and 41 women ranging in age between 60 and 94 years. Physical well-being was estimated by hand grip strength, data concerning subjective wellbeing and health related quality of life were collected by personal interviews based on the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaires. Number of offspring and intergenerational contacts were not related significantly to health-related quality of life, while social contacts with non-relatives and hand grip strength in contrast had a significant positive impact on health related quality of life among old aged men and women. Physical well-being and in particular muscle strength—estimated by grip strength—may increase health-related quality of life and is therefore an important source for well-being during old age. Grip strength may be used as an indicator of health-related quality of life.© 2017 by the author

Response to Lea et al.’s developmental plasticity

No abstract available© The Author(s) 201

Calibrating facial morphs for use as stimuli in biological studies of social perception

Studies of human social perception become more persuasive when the behavior of raters can be separated from the variability of the stimuli they are rating. We prototype such a rigorous analysis for a set of five social ratings of faces varying by body fat percentage (BFP). 274 raters of both sexes in three age groups (adolescent, young adult, senior) rated five morphs of the same averaged facial image warped to the positions of 72 landmarks and semilandmarks predicted by linear regression on BFP at five different levels (the average, ±2 SD, ±5 SD). Each subject rated all five morphs for maturity, dominance, masculinity, attractiveness, and health. The patterns of dependence of ratings on the BFP calibration differ for the different ratings, but not substantially across the six groups of raters. This has implications for theories of social perception, specifically, the relevance of individual rater scale anchoring. The method is also highly relevant for other studies on how biological facial variation affects ratings.© The Author(s) 201

Low digit ratio (2D:4D) is associated with early natural menopause

Objectives: Intrauterine environmental conditions may affect the number of primordial follicles and in this way the timing of menopause. The aim of the present study was to investigate association patterns between right hand digit ratio, that is, 2D:4D - as an indicator of prenatal androgen and estrogen expo- sure, and age at menopause. Methods: One hundred sixty-nine women, who had experienced natural menopause, were enrolled in the study. Length of second and fourth finger were measured directly from the palmar side and digit ratios of both hands were calculated. For further analyses the digit ratio of the right hand was used only. Additionally, smoking habits, body weight and body height, body mass index and the number of children were determined. Multiple regression ana- lyses were used to test association patterns between digit ratio and age at men- opause, body height, BMI, nicotine consumption as well as number of births and age at menopause. Results: Age at menopause correlated significantly positively with the digit ratio. A more feminine digit ratio is associated with a higher age at meno- pause, while a low digit ratio, interpreted as a hint of a higher androgen expo- sure during prenatal phase was associated with a lower age at menopause. Conclusions: Low digit ratio is associated with an earlier onset of natural menopause.© 2019 The Author