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. 2023 Sep;12(3):250-263.
doi: 10.1007/s13679-023-00509-0. Epub 2023 May 30.

Effects of Nutrition and Exercise Interventions on Persons with Sarcopenic Obesity: An Umbrella Review of Meta-Analyses of Randomised Controlled Trials

Lea Reiter  1 , Silvia Bauer  1 , Mariella Traxler  1 , Josje D Schoufour  2 , Peter J M Weijs  2   3 , Alfonso Cruz-Jentoft  4 , Eva Topinková  5 , Doris Eglseer  6
Affiliations

Effects of Nutrition and Exercise Interventions on Persons with Sarcopenic Obesity: An Umbrella Review of Meta-Analyses of Randomised Controlled Trials

Lea Reiter et al. Curr Obes Rep. 2023 Sep.

Abstract

Background: Sarcopenic obesity (SO) is an increasing phenomenon and has been linked to several negative health consequences. The aim of this umbrella review is the assessment of effectiveness and certainty of evidence of nutrition and exercise interventions in persons with SO.

Method: We searched for meta-analyses of RCTs in PubMed, EMBASE and CENTRAL that had been conducted in the last five years, focusing on studies on the treatment and prevention of SO. The primary endpoints were parameters for SO, such as body fat in %, skeletal muscle mass index (SMMI), gait speed, leg strength and grip strength. The methodological quality was evaluated using AMSTAR and the certainty of evidence was assessed using GRADE.

Results: Four systematic reviews with between 30 to 225 participants were included in the umbrella review. These examined four exercise interventions, two nutrition interventions and four interventions that combined nutrition and exercise. Resistance training was the most frequently studied intervention and was found to improve gait speed by 0.14 m/s to 0.17 m/s and lower leg strength by 9.97 kg. Resistance, aerobic, mixed exercise and hypocaloric diet combined with protein supplementation is not significantly effective on selected outcomes for persons with SO compared to no intervention. The low number of primary studies included in the reviews resulted in moderate to very low certainty of evidence.

Conclusion: Despite the lack in certainty of evidence, resistance training may be a suitable intervention for persons with SO, in particular for improving muscle function. Nevertheless, further research is necessary to strengthen the evidence.

Keywords: Dietary protein; GRADE approach; Obesity; Resistance training; Review; Sarcopenia.

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Conflict of interest statement

This umbrella review included the systematic review by Eglseer et al. (2023) which was conducted by partially the same authors and has the same corresponding author as this umbrella review. Nevertheless, the assessment of the methodological quality of Eglseer et al. (2023) was performed on the basis of objective criteria and is in accordance with all authors. The overall rating as well as the rating for each domain is reproducible and is transparently disclosed for readers. The authors have no other competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA flowchart showing screening process applied during the systematic literature search
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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