The role of obesity in sarcopenia and the optimal body composition to prevent against sarcopenia and obesity

Frontiers in Endocrinology

Endocrinology

Xin Tong¹  Keith Yu-Kin Cheng²  Wing-Hoi Cheung²  Chaoran Liu²  Ronald Man Yeung Wong²  Sheung Wai Law²  Simon Kwoon-Ho Chow² 

[1] Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China;Department of Orthopaedics & Traumatology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China;

关键词: muscle;    fat;    sarcopenic obesity;    aging;    body mass index;    body fat percentage;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fendo.2023.1077255

 received in 2022-10-22, accepted in 2023-02-14,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundElderly people with low lean and high fat mass, are diagnosed with sarcopenic obesity (SO), and often have poor clinical outcomes. This study aimed to explore the relationship between obesity and sarcopenia, and the optimal proportion of fat and muscle for old individuals.MethodsParticipants aged 60 years or above were instructed to perform bioelectrical impedance analysis to obtain the muscle and fat indicators, and handgrip strength was also performed. Sarcopenia was diagnosed according to predicted appendicular skeletal muscle mass and function. Body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentage (BF%) were used to define obesity. The association of muscle and fat indicators were analyzed by Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Pearson Chi-Square test was utilized to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) on the risk of sarcopenia according to obesity status.Results1637 old subjects (74.8 ± 7.8 years) participated in this study. Not only fat mass, but also muscle indicators were positively correlated to BMI and body weight (p < 0.05). Absolute muscle and fat mass in different positions had positive associations (p < 0.05). Muscle mass and strength were negatively related to appendicular fat mass percentage (p < 0.05). When defined by BMI (OR = 0.69, 95% CI [0.56, 0.86]; p = 0.001), obesity was a protective factor for sarcopenia, whilst it was a risk factor when using BF% (OR = 1.38, 95% CI [1.13, 1.69]; p = 0.002) as the definition. The risk of sarcopenia reduced with the increase of BMI in both genders. It was increased with raised BF% in males but displayed a U-shaped curve for females. BF% 26.0–34.6% in old females and lower than 23.9% in old males are recommended for sarcopenia and obesity prevention.ConclusionSkeletal muscle mass had strong positive relationship with absolute fat mass but negative associations with the percentage of appendicular fat mass. Obesity was a risk factor of sarcopenia when defined by BF% instead of BMI. The management of BF% can accurately help elderly people prevent against both sarcopenia and obesity.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Liu, Cheng, Tong, Cheung, Chow, Law and Wong