Review highlights importance of developing effective public health strategies to prevent, treat sarcopenic obesity

Future Science Group (FSG) today announced the publication of a new article in Future Science OA synthesizing current data on sarcopenic obesity, and looking to highlight the need for public health strategies for prevention and treatment.

Sarcopenic obesity is the combination of low muscle mass and high fat mass. Tending to be more common in older adults owing to natural changes associated with aging, sarcopenic obesity has the potential to become of increasing public health concern. In addition, evidence suggests that older adults with sarcopenic obesity have increased risks of mobility issues, metabolic disease, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and mortality. However, limited data in terms of prevention and treatment are available, largely owing to differences in definition and assessment. The new article aimed to synthesize current data to improve our understanding of this phenomenon, and look towards effective health strategies.

"Although the adverse health impact of sarcopenic obesity in aging populations is rapidly growing in most developed countries, there is very little evidence on sarcopenic obesity. Physical activity has been recognized as a key lifestyle factor to prevent and delay muscle loss and obesity with aging; however, few data are currently available on the effects of physical activity on sarcopenic obesity in older adults," explained Duck-Chul Lee, first author and Assistant Professor at Iowa State University, USA. "This review highlights the importance of the urgent investigation and development of universal definition, assessment, and diagnosis of sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity for both research studies and clinical practice."

With current studies suggesting the potential benefits of physical activity, fitness and resistance exercise on the prevention and treatment of sarcopenic obesity in older adults, Francesca Lake, Managing Editor of Future Science OA, notes: "Given its rapidly increasing health impact, it is clear we need to identify effective public health strategies and programs to both treat and prevent sarcopenic obesity. In order to do this, we need to standardize its definition and assessment. We hope this article will help move research forward in this arena."