Sarcopenic obesity: Time to meet the challenge

Area of Science:

• Clinical Nutrition
• Obesity Medicine
• Geriatrics

Background:

• Global obesity epidemic linked to lifestyle changes, posing significant health risks including metabolic diseases, organ failure, and cancer.
• Obesity management can negatively impact muscle mass and function, leading to frailty, disability, and increased mortality.
• Low muscle mass and quality in obese individuals (sarcopenic obesity) have poor prognostic implications, yet awareness and understanding are limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight sarcopenic obesity as a critical research and clinical priority.
• To call for consensus on the definition, diagnostic criteria, and treatment of sarcopenic obesity.
• To emphasize the need for effective nutritional strategies to preserve muscle mass in obese patients.

Main Methods:

• Review of emerging evidence on sarcopenic obesity.
• Identification of knowledge gaps in prevalence, clinical impact, and treatment.
• Call for coordinated action by European scientific societies (ESPEN and EASO).

Main Results:

• Sarcopenic obesity is an under-recognized condition with significant negative prognostic impact.
• Current understanding of prevalence, clinical impact, and effective management strategies is inadequate.
• Lack of consensus on definition and diagnostic criteria hinders research and clinical practice.

Conclusions:

• Sarcopenic obesity represents a major scientific and clinical challenge requiring urgent attention.
• Consensus on definition, diagnosis, and especially nutritional treatment is crucial.
• Addressing sarcopenic obesity has the potential to reduce morbidity and mortality in the growing obese population.