Column oriented input
If data are arranged in uniform columns, the following code will work:

DATA COLINPUT;  
   INPUT ID         1  
         HEIGHT   2-3  
         WEIGHT   4-6  
         GENDER $   7  
         AGE      8-9;  
DATALINES;  
168144M23  
278202M34  
362 99F37  
461101F45  
;  
PROC PRINT DATA=COLINPUT;  
   TITLE 'Example 5.1';  
RUN;

It produces the same output as the first example.