Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Sarcopenic obesity (SO), characterized by the coexistence of obesity and sarcopenia, is a condition increasingly recognized for its clinical and functional features, which impairs patients’ quality of life and increases the risk of morbidity and mortality. In order to improve the management of obese patients, we aimed to screen for sarcopenia in obese adults and to identify the nutritional risk factors associated with sarcopenic obesity.

Materials and methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study, carried out on 53 obese patients who consulted the Human Obesity Research Unit of the National Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology of Tunis, between November 2022 and February 2023.

Results: The mean age of patients was 44.34±13.51 years. Mean BMI was 39.78±5.92 kg/m²;. Almost all patients (94.3%) had a high fat mass percentage. More than half the patients (54.7%) had low skeletal muscle mass (SMM/W). Prevalence of Sarcopenia was 7.5% (SO+). Mean energy intake was 3100 kcal/d in SO+ and 2800 kcal/d in SO- (P=0.886). The average intake of lipids and saturated fatty acids was higher in sarcopenic obese people, but with no significant difference. Average cholesterol intake was significantly higher for SO+ than for SO- (354.93 mg/24 h vs 320.53 mg/24 h respectively; P<0.001). Regarding the average vitamin intake, there was no statistically significant difference between SO+ and SO-. Furthermore, a statistically significant relationship was found between low skeletal muscle mass (SMM/W) and the average intake of vitamin PP (P=0.014) and vitamin B9 (P=0.009). There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding the average intake of mineral salts, except for the average copper intake, which was significantly higher in sarcopenic obese people (2.91 mg/d for SO+ vs 1.84 mg/d for SO-; P=0.038).

Conclusions: In the light of our results and those of the literature, a high-calorie diet combined with sedentary lifestyle contributes to the development of sarcopenic obesity. We therefore recommend promoting a balanced, low-energy-density diet in order to reduce the risk of sarcopenia and associated comorbidities.