Abstract
The objectives of this study were to classify body types of 40s, 50s, 60s obese women according to body measurements and to investigate relationships between age and body types of obese women. Body measurement was made on 497 obese women in their 40s, 50s, 60s whose BMI (Body Mass Index) was 25.0 or more when directly measured in 'Size Korea 2004'. Data were analyzed through factor analysis, cluster analysis, Pearson's correlation coefficient, $X^2$-test, t-test, one-way analysis of variance, and Duncan's multiple range test. First. the obesity group with BMI being 25.0-30.0 was composed of 23.1% subjects in their 40s, 43.3% subjects in their 50s, and 50.0% subjects in their 60th, which demonstrates that the older subjects were, the higher the distribution was. Adding the high obesity group with BMI being more than 30.0 to the obesity group, women in their 60s were 56.7%, the most of obese bodies. Second, factor analysis of obese women's BMIs revealed that five factors were elicited, including upper-body circumference related factor, height related factor, lower-body circumference related factor, upper-body width related factor, and upper-body related factor. As a result of analyzing the clusters, three types of body shapes were classified including upper-lower obesity, upper obesity, and lower obesity. Third, obese women were thicker or wider than non-obese individuals in those factors including upper-body circumference, lower-body circumference, and body width, and longer in upper-body length, while non-obese individuals were higher or longer than obese individuals in height related factors.
