Appetite variation in sarcopenic old adults with or without overweight/obesity - a nationally cross-sectional survey...

To investigate the appetite variation of sarcopenic old adults with/without obesity could guide the individualized diet management. Among adults>60 years in the China Psychosomatic Health Survey Based on the Traditional Chinese Medicine, those with normal BMI and without sarcopenia, those with isolated sarcopenia (BMI<24 kg/m²), and those with sarcopenic overweight/obesity (BMI≥24 kg/m²) were included. The related factors of appetite (demographics, eating-related factors, chronic disease, preferred flavor) were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression models. The correlation between preferred flavor and food intake was analyzed using the Kendall's tau-b coefficient. Among 8634 adults (69.6 ± 6.9 years) included, the prevalence of poor appetite among isolated sarcopenia and sarcopenic overweight/obesity were 13.8 % and 8.9 %, respectively. With chronic pain (odds ratio [OR] = 2.79, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 2.07-3.74) and teeth problem (OR = 1.45, 95 %CI 1.14-1.84) were the related factors of poor appetite in adults with isolated sarcopenia, while with gastrointestinal disease (OR = 2.23, 95 %CI 1.15-4.33) was that of poor appetite in those with sarcopenic overweight/obesity. Preferring sour flavor (OR = 2.33, 95 %CI 1.45-3.76) was positively associated with poor appetite only in adults with isolated sarcopenia, but not among those with sarcopenic overweight/obesity. Light flavor was negatively associated with poor appetite among sarcopenic adults with or without overweight/obesity, and negatively correlated to the decrease of food intake among the adults with isolated sarcopenia. In conclusion, poor appetite was the common problem among sarcopenic old adults with or without overweight/obesity. Related factors of appetite in sarcopenic old adults with or without overweight/obesity were different. Changing flavor of food might improve appetite and promote food intake, especially among old adults with isolated sarcopenia.