A new study published in the Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics investigated the interrelationships between central obesity, sarcopenia and nutritional status in the elderly.

The present study enrolled 501 community-dwelling elderly with complete datasets; 47.5% were females. Biochemical and anthropometric data were measured after an overnight fast. Basic characteristics, psychosocial and behavioral factors, nutritional status and history of chronic disease were recorded with the help of structured questionnaires. Central obesity was defined as waist circumference ≥ 90 cm for men and ≥ 80 cm for women. Sarcopenia was defined by the Asian consensus.

The findings revealed that 18% of the participants had an abnormal nutritional status; 59.9% had central obesity; 10.4% sarcopenia and 0.6% sarcopenic obesity. Central obesity and total lymphocyte count were negatively associated while sarcopenia, current smoking and total number of chronic diseases were positively associated with abnormal nutritional status. Furthermore, an analysis of the combined effects of central obesity and sarcopenia on nutritional status showed that significantly fewer participants with central obesity, but not sarcopenia, had abnormal nutrition than those with sarcopenia with or without central obesity.

Thus, the results suggested that central obesity and sarcopenia were interactively associated with the nutritional status of older people living in a rural community.

Source: Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics. 2019 Dec 17;87:104003. doi: 10.1016/j.archger.2019.104003