Body composition and self-perception of age and health in resistance-trained postmenopausal women

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the associations among subjective age, age perception ratio (APR), self-rated health, happiness score and body composition in postmenopausal women.

METHOD: A total of 46 postmenopausal women aged 50-69 years participated, divided into a resistance training group (RTG; n  = 24; age 58.2 ± 5.1 years, ≥7 years training) and an untrained group (UNG; n  = 22; age 58.5 ± 4.1 years). The APR, self-rated health and happiness were assessed and compared. Body composition variables included the waist-to-hip ratio, waist-to-height ratio, body fat percentage and absolute fat mass. Statistical analyses included t-tests, correlations and multiple regression to predict APR.

RESULTS: Women in the RTG perceived themselves as 27.1 ± 11.3% younger than their actual age, significantly more than the 10.6 ± 17.8% in the UNG ( p  = 0.001). Self-rated health was higher in the RTG (4.1 ± 0.7) than in the UNG (3.1 ± 1.0; p  < 0.001), with no group differences in happiness ( p  = 0.799). The APR correlated with self-rated health ( r  = 0.689; p  < 0.001) and happiness ( r  = 0.435; p  = 0.003). Regression showed that self-rated health, happiness and waist-to-hip ratio predicted 56.7% of APR variance ( R 2 = 0.567; p  < 0.001). The RTG also had better body composition values than the UNG.

CONCLUSION: Postmenopausal women engaged in long-term resistance training showed a higher APR and self-rated health, likely associated with improved body composition and younger self-perception of age.