Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Body composition in sarcopenic obesity: systematic review of the literature

  • Review
  • Published:
Mediterranean Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism

Abstract

Although, recently a mounting interest in the literature has been directed to sarcopenic obesity, currently, different definitions of sarcopenic obesity (SO) exist and diagnostic criteria are not universally established. The aim of the present systematic review is to summarize the state of the art according to extant literature about this topic. A systematic review of the literature was performed considering the revision question: “sarcopenic obesity: body composition”. Analysis and presentation of the outcomes were carried out in the form of a narrative résumé of the reports. Twenty-six studies were considered eligible for the systematic review involving globally more than 23,000 subjects. In all the studies examined, except one, the definition of sarcopenic obesity was based on the co-presence of obesity and sarcopenia. With respect to obesity, different parameters (body mass index, fat mass and visceral fat area) were used (as single parameters or in association to the other adiposity measures). For sarcopenia, the appendicular skeletal muscle mass standardized for height or weight, cross-sectional area at the quadriceps level, muscle strength and/or muscle/fat-free mass indexes were considered. Body composition analysis was performed, depending on the studies, through DXA scan, CT scan bioimpedance analysis, dynamometer test or anthropometric parameters. To date, just few papers provided clear and shared diagnostic criteria of SO. In fact, in our review, criteria adopted by single authors were only partially overlapping. One of the main obstacles is represented by the definition of SO, and especially whether it should be based only on criteria of body composition or also functional criteria should be taken into account.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Baumgartner RN (2000) Body composition in healthy aging. Ann N Y Acad Sci 904:437–448

    Google Scholar 

  2. Flegal KM, Carroll MD, Ogden CL, Johnson CL (2002) Prevalence and trends in Obesity among US adults, 1999–2000. JAMA 288(14):1723–1727

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Villareal DT, et al (2009) Obesity in older adults-a growing problem. In: Nutrition and health: handbook of clinical nutrition and aging, 2nd edn. New York, Humana Press, pp 263–277

  4. Roubenoff R (2004) Sarcopenic obesity: the confluence of two epidemics. Obes Res 12:887–888

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Stenholm S, Harris TB, Rantanen T, Visser M, Kritchevsky SB, Ferrucci L (2008) Sarcopenic obesity: definition, cause and consequences. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care 11(6):693–700

    Google Scholar 

  6. Waters DL, Baumgartner RN (2011) Sarcopenia and obesity. Clin Geriatr Med 27:401–421

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Zamboni M, Mazzali G, Fantin F, Rossi A, Di Francesco V (2008) Sarcopenic obesity: a new category of obesity in the elderly. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis 18(5):388–395

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Kim TN, Yang SJ, Yoo HJ, Lim KI, Kang HJ, Song W, Seo JA, Kim SG, Kim NH, Baik SH, Choi DS, Choi KM (2009) Prevalence of sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity in Korean adults: the Korean sarcopenic obesity study. Int J Obesity 33:885–892

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Dominguez LJ, Barbagallo M (2007) The cardiometabolic syndrome and sarcopenic obesity in older persons. J Cardiometab Syndr 2(3):183–189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Baumgartner RN, Wayne SJ, Waters DL, Janssen I, Gallagher D, Morley JE (2004) Sarcopenic obesity predicts instrumental activities of daily living disability in the elderly. Obes Res 12:1995–2004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Zamboni M, Mazzali G, Zoico E, Harris TB, Meigs JB, Di Francesco V, Fantin F, Bissoli L, Bosello O (2005) Health consequences of obesity in the elderly: a review of four unresolved questions. Int J Obes (Lond) 29(9):1011–1029

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Ritz P (2009) Obesity in the elderly: should we be using new diagnostic criteria? J Nutr Health Aging 13(3):168–169

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Davison KK, Ford ES, Cogswell ME, Dietz WH (2002) Percentage of body fat and body mass index are associated with mobility limitation in people aged 70 and older from NHANES III. J Am Geriatr Soc 50:1802–1809

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Zoico E, Di Francesco V, Guralnik JM, Mazzali G, Bortolani A, Guariento S, Sergi G, Bosello O, Zamboni M (2004) Physical disability and muscular strength in relation to obesity and different body composition indexes in a sample of healthy elderly women. Int J Obes 28:234–241

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Prado CM, Wells JC, Smith SR, Stephan BC, Siervo M (2012) Sarcopenic obesity: a critical appraisal of the current evidence. Clin Nutr 31:583–601

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Egger M, Smith GD, Altman DG (eds) (2001) Systematic reviews in health care: meta-analysis in context, 2nd edn. BMJ, London, pp 3–68

  17. Aubertin-Leheudre M, Lord C, Goulet DB, Khalil A, Dionne IJ (2006) Effect of sarcopenia on cardiovascular disease risk factors in obese postmenopausal women. Obesity 14:2277–2283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Auyeung TW, Lee JS, Leung J, Kwok T, Woo J (2012) Adiposity to muscle ratio predicts incident physical limitation in a cohort of 3,153 older adults—an alternative measurement of sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity. Age. doi:10.1007/s11357-012-9423-9

    Google Scholar 

  19. Barbat-Artigas S, Filion ME, Plouffe S, Aubertin-Leheudre M (2012) Muscle quality as a potential explanation of the metabolically healthy but obese and sarcopenic obese paradoxes. Metab Syndr Relat Disord 10(2):117–122

    Google Scholar 

  20. Bouchard DR, Dionne IJ, Brochu M (2009) Sarcopenic/obesity and physical capacity in older men and women: data from the Nutrition as a Determinant of Successful Aging (NuAge)-the Quebec longitudinal study. Obesity (Silver Spring) 17:2082–2088

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Cesari M, Kritchevsky SB, Baumgartner RN, Atkinson HH, Penninx BW, Lenchik L, et al (2005) Sarcopenia, obesity, and inflammation e results from the trial of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibition and Novel cardiovascular risk factors study. Am J Clin Nutr 82(2):428–434

    Google Scholar 

  22. Chung JY, Kang HT, Lee DC, Lee HR, Lee YL (2013) Body composition and its association with cardiometabolic risk factors in the elderly: a focus on sarcopenic obesity. Arch Gerontol Geriatr 56(1):270–278. doi:10.1016/j.archger.2012.09.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Kim YS, Lee Y, Chung YS, Lee DJ, Joo NS, Hong D et al (2012) Prevalence of sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity in the Korean population based on the Fourth Korean National health and nutritional Examination Surveys. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 67(10):1107–1113. doi:10.1093/gerona/gls071

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Kohara K, Ochi M, Tabara Y, Nagai T, Igase M, Miki T (2011) Leptin in sarcopenic visceral obesity: possible link between adipocytes and myocytes. PLoS ONE 6(9):e24633

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Lu C-W, Yang K-C, Chang H-H, Lee L-T, Chen C-Y, Huang K-C (2013) Sarcopenic obesity is closely associated with metabolic syndrome. Obesity Res Clin Practice 7(4):e301–e307

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Levine ME, Crimmins EM (2012) The impact of insulin resistance and inflammation on the association between sarcopenic obesity and physical functioning. Obesity (Silver Spring) 20(10):2101–2106

    Google Scholar 

  27. Lim KI, Yang SJ, Kim TN, Yoo HJ, Kang HJ, Song W et al (2010) The association between the ratio of visceral fat to thigh muscle area and metabolic syndrome: the Korean Sarcopenic Obesity Study (KSOS). Clin Endocrinol (Oxford) 73(5):588–594

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Messier V, Karelis AD, Lavoie ME, Brochu M, Faraj M, Strychar I, et al (2009) Metabolic profile and quality of life in class I sarcopenic overweight and obese postmenopausal women: a MONET study. Appl Physiol Nutr Metabol 34(1):18–24

    Google Scholar 

  29. Monteiro MA, Gabriel RC, Sousa MF, Castro MN, Moreira MH (2010) Temporal parameters of the foot roll-over during walking: influence of obesity and sarcopenic obesity on postmenopausal women. Maturitas 67(2):178–185

    Google Scholar 

  30. Ochi M, Tabara Y, Kido T, Uetani E, Ochi N, Igase M, et al (2010) Quadriceps sarcopenia and visceral obesity are risk factors for postural instability in the middle-aged to elderly population. Geriatr Gerontol Int 10(3):233–243

    Google Scholar 

  31. Prado CM, Lieffers JR, McCargar LJ, Reiman T, Sawyer MB, Martin L, et al (2008) Prevalence and clinical implications of sarcopenic obesity in patients with solid tumours of the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts: a population-based study. Lancet Oncol 9(7):629–635

    Google Scholar 

  32. Rolland Y, Lauwers-Cances V, Cristini C, Abellan van Kan G, Janssen I, Morley JE, et al (2009) 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 89:1895e900

  33. Schrager MA, Metter EJ, Simonsick E, Ble A, Bandinelli S, Lauretani F, et al (2007) Sarcopenic obesity and inflammation in the InCHIANTI study. J Appl Physiol 102(3):919–925

    Google Scholar 

  34. Seo JA, Cho H, Eun CR, Yoo HJ, Kim SG, Choi KM et al (2012) Association between visceral obesity and sarcopenia and vitamin D deficiency in older Koreans: the Ansan Geriatric study. J Am Geriatr Soc 60(4):700–706

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Siervo M, Stephan BCM, Nasti G, Colantuoni A (2012) Ageing, adiposity indexes and low muscle mass in a clinical sample of overweight and obese women. Obesity Res Clin Pract 6:e63e70

    Google Scholar 

  36. Srikanthan P, Hevener AL, Karlamangla AS (2010) Sarcopenia Exacerbates Obesity-Associated Insulin Resistance and Dysglycemia: findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III. PLoS ONE 5(5):e10805. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010805

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Stenholm S, Alley D, Bandinelli S, Griswold ME, Koskinen S, Rantanen T et al (2009) The effect of obesity combined with low muscle strength on decline in mobility in older persons: results from the InCHIANTI study. Int J Obes (London) 33(6):635–644

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Visser M, van Venrooij LM, Vulperhorst L, de Vos R, Wisselink W, van Leeuwen PA et al (2013) Sarcopenic obesity is associated with adverse clinical outcome after cardiac surgery. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis 23(6):511–518

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Waters DL, Hale L, Grant AM, Herbison P, Goulding A (2010) Osteoporosis and gait and balance disturbances in older sarcopenic obese New Zealanders. Osteoporos Int 21:351–357. doi:10.1007/s00198-009-0947-5

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Gallagher D, Heymsfield SB, Heo M, Jebb SA, Murgatroyd PR, Sakamoto Y (2000) Healthy percentage body fat ranges: an approach for developing guidelines based on body mass index. Am J Clin Nutr 72(3):694–701

    Google Scholar 

  41. Cruz-Jentoft AJ, Baeyens JP, Bauer JM, Boirie Y, Cederholm T, Landi F et al (2010) Sarcopenia: European consensus on definition and diagnosis: report of the European working group on sarcopenia in older people. Age Ageing 39:412–423

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Working Group on Functional Outcome Measures for Clinical Trials (2008) Functional outcomes for clinical trials in frail older persons: time to be moving. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 63:160–164

    Google Scholar 

  43. Passmore R, Meiklejohn AP, Dewar AD, Thow RK (1955) An analysis of the gain in weight of overfed thin young men. Br J Nutr 9(1):27–37

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Norgan NG, Durnin JVGA (1980) The effect of 6 weeks of overfeeding on the body weight, body composition, and energy metabolism of young men. Am J Clin Nutr 33:978–988

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Gallagher D, DeLegge M (2011) Body composition (Sarcopenia) in obese patients: implications for care in the intensive care unit. JPEN 35(Supplement 1):21S–28S

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Elia M, Stubbs RJ, Henry CJK (1999) Differences in fat, carbohydrate, and protein metabolism between lean and obese subjects undergoing total starvation. Obesity Res 7:597–604

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. Migliaccio S, Francomano D, Bruzziches R, Greco EA, Fornari R, Donini LM, Lenzi A, Aversa A (2013) Trunk fat negatively influences skeletal and testicular functions in obese men: clinical implications for the aging male. Int J Endocrinol (in press)

  48. Kyle UG, Genton L, Karsegard L et al (2001) Single prediction equation for bioelectrical impedance analysis in adults aged 20–94 years. Nutrition 17:248–253

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Food Science and Endocrinology Section, Department of Experimental Medicine, Medical Physiopathology, Sapienza University of Rome, P.le Aldo Moro, 5, 00185, Rome, Italy

    Lorenzo M. Donini, Eleonora Poggiogalle, Antonio Aversa & Alessandro Pinto

  2. Unit of Endocrinology, Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome “Foro Italico”, Rome, Italy

    Silvia Migliaccio

Authors
  1. Lorenzo M. Donini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Eleonora Poggiogalle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Silvia Migliaccio
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Antonio Aversa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Alessandro Pinto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lorenzo M. Donini.

About this article

Cite this article

Donini, L.M., Poggiogalle, E., Migliaccio, S. et al. Body composition in sarcopenic obesity: systematic review of the literature. Mediterr J Nutr Metab 6, 191–198 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12349-013-0135-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12349-013-0135-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation