Effect of age and obesity on human male anterior abdominal wall muscles: An ultrasonographic anthropometric analysis

Objectives: to study the differences in the thickness of anterior abdominal wall muscle,in age matched individuals having different body mass indices; and to determine if there is any correlation between the thickness of muscle with that of the body mass index (bmi). design: cohort prospective. methods: 4160 observations were made on 260 healthy men of 20-50 years of age. regression analysis and pearson's correlation coefficient were computed and are statistically highly significant (p<0.01-0.001). results: muscles show poor correlationship with that of the bmi and the results are statistically highly significant (p<0.01-0.001). regressing bmi on abdominal muscles in different age groups,it was found that the relationship was linear and positive in 20-40 years,while it was linear and negative in 40-50 years. conclusion: increase in abdominal muscles thickness till the fourth decade of life with an increase in obesity; thereafter,in the fifth decade of life there is decline in muscle thickness. both age and obesity influence the abdominal,subcutaneous fat and muscle thickness.