Starting at the first BLSA assessment in 1958, participants’ weight and height were measured and recorded by a trained staff clinician. For participants who had at least one valid assessment of personality, there were 14,531 valid assessments of height and weight across the 50 years of the study (M assessments per participant = 7.31, SD = 5.85, range = 1 to 32). In subsequent assessments, clinicians also measured participants’ waist circumference, hip circumference, and body fat, based on skinfold thickness. In addition to examining derived BMI (calculated as kg/m2) as a continuous measure, we categorized BMI based on international standards (WHO, 2000): normal weight (BMI < 25), overweight (BMI = 25-30) and obese (BMI ≥ 30). The 17 participants who could be classified as underweight (BMI < 18.5) were grouped with the normal weight participants. In the present sample, BMI had a mean of 26.14 (SD = 4.89), waist circumference had a mean of 87.17 cm (SD = 13.32), hip circumference had a mean of 101.27 cm (SD = 8.99), and body fat had a mean of 25.63 (SD = 9.60).
