Body Composition in Individuals with Obesity According to Age and Sex: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Laurent Maïmoun,Denis Mariano-Goulart,Thibault Mura,Ariane Sultan,Antoine Avignon

doi:10.3390/jcm9041188

Abstract

Obesity is characterized by an alteration in body composition (BC); however, it is not known whether this alteration is modified by aging or sex. The aims of this study were to analyze BC in individuals with obesity based on age and sex and to determine the prevalence of sarcopenia. Seven hundred and fifty-five obese individuals were subdivided into four age groups. The hole (WB) and segmental BC were determined using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). In men, the WB lean tissue mass (LTM) and fat mass (FM) adjusted by weight and height were relatively constant with age. In women, the WBLTM was higher and WBFM was lower in the >65 group compared to the 18–34 group. A decrease in the LTM and FM at lower limbs and an increase in the trunk were observed, particularly in women, inducing a lower appendicular lean mass index (ALMI; appendicular LTM/height2) in the >65 group compared to the 18–34 group in both sexes. This study demonstrated that even though the WBLTM and FM are relatively constant with age, individuals with obesity present a localized redistribution of these two components. This body composition change leads to a decrease of the ALMI with age, one of the criteria included in the sarcopenia definition.

Highlights

Body composition changes with aging have been characterized by a decrease in muscle mass and a relative increase in fat content in normal-weight individuals [1]
When only the skeletal muscle mass was used to define sarcopenic obesity, its prevalence in obese people 60 years and older ranged by a factor of 19 for men and 26 for women when eight separate research definitions were applied to a representative National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) sample of noninstitutionalized individuals [10]
We clearly demonstrate that a localized redistribution of lean tissue mass (LTM) and fat mass (FM) occurs with aging in individuals with obesity

Summary

Introduction

Body composition changes with aging have been characterized by a decrease in muscle mass and a relative increase in fat content in normal-weight individuals [1]. Obesity is defined as an excessive fat mass (FM) as a percentage of the body weight, with a relative increase in the lean tissue mass (LTM) [5] This disease is common and is associated with comorbidities [6]. Several factors may explain the wide variability in these rates, and Batsis et al [10] noted that the following all varied considerably between studies: thresholds for obesity and sarcopenia, the determination of sarcopenia using appendicular versus total body skeletal mass, sex-specific cut-offs, and ethnicity This high degree of variability indicates the need for consensus criteria that can be reliably applied across clinical and research settings [11]. The lack of consensus surrounding the standard diagnostic criteria for sarcopenic obesity is a serious impediment to determining at-risk patients, the effectiveness of clinical treatments, and the optimal clinical protocols for use in routine care settings, which are critical issues for the healthcare practitioners who must detect and manage this condition [12]

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