OBJECTIVE: To provide anthropometric data of elderly people living in the urban area of Joinville, SC. Methodology: Two hundred and eighteen elderly people, aged 60 years or more, of both sexes, not institutionalized and residents in the urban area of Joinville city-SC were analyzed, in the year of 2002. The elderly were gathered according to sex and age group (60-69 years, 70-79 years and 80 and more). The anthropometric variables are presented under the average form, deviation-pattern and percentile (P5, P10, P25, P50, P75, P90 and P95). RESULTS: From 218 elderly, 130 (59.6%) were women and 88 (40.4%) men. Although the mean values of most investigated variables were proposing a tendency to reduce with the age increase, there was no statistically significant difference in the mean values among the age groups for both sex (p>0.05). When compared by sex, the body mass index, hip circumference and skinfolds mean values of women were significantly higher from the men. These, however, presented the waist circumference mean value significantly higher from the women (p <0.05). CONCLUSION: Most of the studies accomplished with elderly people in other countries have been investigated this category considering people with 65 years old or more, what makes difficult the comparison with the Brazilian data. In addition to other studies with elderly people in Brazil, the data obtained in this study can contribute for the construction of an anthropometric pattern of the Brazilian elderly population, inexistent in the country so far.
Anthropometry; Nutritional Status; Aged; Joinville city