Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Prevalence of sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity in Korean adults: the Korean sarcopenic obesity study

Abstract

Objectives:

To examine the prevalence of sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity (SO) as defined by different indices, including appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM)/height2, skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) and residuals for Korean adults, and to explore the association between SO and metabolic syndrome.

Methods:

Our study sample included 526 participants (328 women, 198 men) for whom complete data on body composition were collected using available dual X-ray absorptiometry. Modified National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria were used to identify the individuals with metabolic syndrome.

Results:

The prevalence of sarcopenia and SO is higher in older adults. Using two s.d. of ASM/height2 below reference values from young, healthy adults as a definition of sarcopenia, the prevalence of sarcopenia and SO was 6.3% and 1.3% in older (60 years) men and 4.1% and 0.8% in older women, respectively. The prevalence of sarcopenia using the residuals method was 15.4% in older men and 22.3% in older women. In addition, using two s.d. of SMI, the prevalence of sarcopenia and SO was 5.1% and 5.1%, respectively, in older men and 14.2% and 12.5%, respectively, in older women. Among women, SO subjects defined by the SMI had three times the risk of metabolic syndrome (odds ratios (OR)=3.24, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.21–8.66) and non-sarcopenic obese subjects had approximately twice the risk of metabolic syndrome (OR=2.17, 95% CI=1.22–3.88) compared with normal subjects. Similar trends were observed in men.

Conclusion:

The prevalence and cutoff values of sarcopenia and SO in the Korean population were evaluated using different methods. Among the different indices of sarcopenia and SO, SO only defined using the SMI was associated with the risk of metabolic syndrome. As the Korean population gets older and more obese, the problematics of SO need to be elucidate.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Mokdad AH, Bowman BA, Ford ES, Vinicor F, Marks JS, Koplan JP . The continuing epidemics of obesity and diabetes in the United States. JAMA 2001; 286: 1195–1200.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Roubenoff R . Sarcopenic obesity: the confluence of two epidemics. Obes Res 2004; 12: 887–888.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Janssen I, Heymsfield SB, Ross R . Low relative skeletal muscle mass (sarcopenia) in older persons is associated with functional impairment and physical disability. J Am Geriatr Soc 2002; 50: 889–896.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Riechman SE, Schoen RE, Weissfeld JL, Thaete FL, Kriska AM . Association of physical activity and visceral adipose tissue in older women and men. Obes Res 2002; 10: 1065–1073.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Ryan AS, Nicklas BJ . Age-related changes in fat deposition in mid-thigh muscle in women: relationships with metabolic cardiovascular disease risk factors. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1999; 23: 126–132.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Office KNS . Population Projections (2001 2050) and various population-related indicators (birth rate, death rate and life expectancy) on the basis of the results from the 2005 Population Census. http://www.index.go.kr/egams/stts/jsp/potal/stts/PO_STTS_IdxMain.jsp?idx_cd=1009&bbs=INDX_001 2006.

  8. Baumgartner RN . Body composition in healthy aging. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2000; 904: 437–448.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Zoico E, Di Francesco V, Guralnik JM, Mazzali G, Bortolani A, Guariento S et al. Physical disability and muscular strength in relation to obesity and different body composition indexes in a sample of healthy elderly women. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2004; 28: 234–241.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Newman AB, Kupelian V, Visser M, Simonsick E, Goodpaster B, Nevitt M et al. Sarcopenia: alternative definitions and associations with lower extremity function. J Am Geriatr Soc 2003; 51: 1602–1609.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Delmonico MJ, Harris TB, Lee JS, Visser M, Nevitt M, Kritchevsky SB et al. Alternative definitions of sarcopenia, lower extremity performance, and functional impairment with aging in older men and women. J Am Geriatr Soc 2007; 55: 769–774.

    Article  Google Scholar 

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Grundy SM, Cleeman JI, Daniels SR, Donato KA, Eckel RH, Franklin BA et al. Diagnosis and management of the metabolic syndrome. An American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Scientific Statement. Executive summary. Cardiol Rev 2005; 13: 322–327.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Heymsfield SB, Smith R, Aulet M, Bensen B, Lichtman S, Wang J et al. Appendicular skeletal muscle mass: measurement by dual-photon absorptiometry. Am J Clin Nutr 1990; 52: 214–218.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Baumgartner RN, Koehler KM, Gallagher D, Romero L, Heymsfield SB, Ross RR et al. Epidemiology of sarcopenia among the elderly in New Mexico. Am J Epidemiol 1998; 147: 755–763.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Kim J, Wang Z, Heymsfield SB, Baumgartner RN, Gallagher D . Total-body skeletal muscle mass: estimation by a new dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry method. Am J Clin Nutr 2002; 76: 378–383.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Lee JH, Song CH, Yum KS, Kim KS, Nam SW, Han JY et al. Age associated changes in body mass index and body fat distribution. J Korean Acad Fam Med 2003; 24: 1010–1016.

    Google Scholar 

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

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

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Misra A, Khurana L . Obesity and the metabolic syndrome in developing countries. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2008; 93: S9–S30.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Clark BC, Manini TM . Sarcopenia =/= dynapenia. J Gerontol 2008; 63: 829–834.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Nair KS . Aging muscle. Am J Clin Nutr 2005; 81: 953–963.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Roubenoff R . Catabolism of aging: is it an inflammatory process? Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care 2003; 6: 295–299.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was funded by Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF) grant funded by the Korean government (R01-2007-000-20546-0) and a grant from the Korean Health 21 R&D Project, Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (A 050463).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to K M Choi.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kim, T., Yang, S., Yoo, H. et al. Prevalence of sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity in Korean adults: the Korean sarcopenic obesity study. Int J Obes 33, 885–892 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2009.130

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2009.130

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links