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
. 2022 Jun 1:13:914740.
doi: 10.3389/fendo.2022.914740. eCollection 2022.

Sarcopenic Obesity in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review

Marcela Zembura  1 , Paweł Matusik  1
Affiliations

Sarcopenic Obesity in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review

Marcela Zembura et al. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). .

Erratum in

Abstract

Sarcopenic obesity (SO) is defined as co-occurrence of increased fat mass and sarcopenia and may predict adverse health outcomes in the pediatric population. However, the prevalence of SO and its association with adverse health outcomes have not been well defined in children and adolescents. We systematically reviewed data on the SO definition, prevalence, and adverse outcomes in the pediatric population. A total of 18 articles retrieved from PubMed or Web of Science databases were included. Overall, there was a wide heterogeneity in the methods and thresholds used to define SO. The prevalence of SO ranged from 5.66% to 69.7% in girls, with a range between 7.2% and 81.3% in boys. Of the 8 studies that evaluated outcomes related to SO, all showed a significant association of SO with cardiometabolic outcomes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) severity, inflammation, and mental health. In conclusion, this review found that SO is highly prevalent in children and adolescents and is associated with various adverse health outcomes. Findings of this review highlight the need for the development of a consensus regarding definition, standardized evaluation methods, and age and gender thresholds for SO for different ethnicities in the pediatric population. Further studies are needed to understand the relationship between obesity and sarcopenia and SO impact on adverse health outcomes in children and adolescents.

Keywords: adolescents; children; muscle mass; muscle strength; obesity; sarcopenia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA protocol for data acquisition. n, number; PRISMA, Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (50).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. WHO . Overweight and Obesity. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight (Accessed 1.12.2021).
    1. HEALTHY Study Group. Kaufman FR, Hirst K, Linder B, Baranowski T, Cooper DM, et al. . Risk Factors for Type 2 Diabetes in a Sixth- Grade Multiracial Cohort: The sHEALTHY Study. Diabetes Care (2009) 32(5):953–5. doi: 10.2337/dc08-1774 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sorof J, Daniels S. Obesity Hypertension in Children: A Problem of Epidemic Proportions. Hypertension (2002) 40:441–7. doi: 10.1161/01.HYP.0000032940.33466.12 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kumar S, Kelly AS. Review of Childhood Obesity: From Epidemiology, Etiology, and Comorbidities to Clinical Assessment and Treatment. Mayo Clin Proc (2017) 92(2):251–65. doi: 10.1016/j.mayocp.2016.09.017 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Feldstein AE, Charatcharoenwitthaya P, Treeprasertsuk S, Benson JT, Enders FB, Angulo P. The Natural History of non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Children: A Follow-Up Study for Up to 20 Years. Gut (2009) 58:1538–44. doi: 10.1136/gut.2008.171280 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types