Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2016 Jul 14;2(3):FSO127.
doi: 10.4155/fsoa-2016-0028. eCollection 2016 Sep.

Physical activity and sarcopenic obesity: definition, assessment, prevalence and mechanism

Affiliations
Review

Physical activity and sarcopenic obesity: definition, assessment, prevalence and mechanism

Duck-Chul Lee et al. Future Sci OA. .

Abstract

Sarcopenic obesity is the coexistance of sarcopenia and obesity. Modern sarcopenia definition includes low muscle mass, weak muscle strength (handgrip strength) and poor physical function (slow walking), although the clinical definition of each varies worldwide. The cut-points for low muscle mass for men and women using appendicular lean mass divided by height (kg/m2) are ≤7.0 and ≤5.4 in Asians, and ≤7.23 and ≤5.67 in Caucasians, respectively. The cut-points for weak handgrip strength (kg) for men and women are <26 and <18 in Asians, and <30 and <20 in Caucasians, respectively. The cut-point for slow walking is ≤0.8 m/s in men and women. Current data suggest the potential benefits of physical activity and fitness on sarcopenic obesity in older adults.

Keywords: exercise; handgrip strength; muscle mass; physical activity; physical fitness; physical function; sarcopenia; sarcopenic obesity; walking speed.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Financial & competing interests disclosure SN Blair has served on the scientific advisory boards of Technogym, Clarity, Cancer Foundation for Life, and Santech. He has received research funding from BodyMedia, Technogym, The Coca-Cola Company, the US Department of Defense, and the NIH. He receives book royalties from Human Kinetics. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Figures

<b>Figure 1.</b>
Figure 1.. Sarcopenic obesity by body composition phenotype.
<b>Figure 2.</b>
Figure 2.. Diagnostic criteria for sarcopenic obesity.
<b>Figure 3.</b>
Figure 3.. Relationship between physical activity and sarcopenic obesity.

References

    1. Rosenberg IH. Sarcopenia. origins and clinical relevance. J. Nutr. 1997;127(Suppl. 5):S990–S999. - PubMed
    1. Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Kit BK, Flegal KM. Prevalence of childhood and adult obesity in the United States, 2011–2012. JAMA. 2014;311(8):806–814. - PMC - PubMed
    1. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. 2013. www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/pdf/ageing/WorldP... World population ageing.
    1. Baumgartner RN, Wayne SJ, Waters DL, Janssen I, Gallagher D, Morley JE. Sarcopenic obesity predicts instrumental activities of daily living disability in the elderly. Obes. Res. 2004;12(12):1995–2004. - PubMed
    1. Rolland Y, Lauwers-Cances V, Cristini C, et al. Difficulties with physical function associated with obesity, sarcopenia, and sarcopenic-obesity in community-dwelling elderly women. the EPIDOS (EPIDemiologie de l'OSteoporose) study. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 2009;89(6):1895–1900. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources