It’s no secret old age can rob us of our strength. This age-related muscle wastage – known as sarcopenia – can eventually lead to more falls, more hospital stays, difficulty with walking or toileting and less independence. Eventually, it can mean needing residential aged care.
Many people imagine a person with this condition is old, frail and very thin. But in fact, people who are not thin – and not particularly old – can also have sarcopenia. Sarcopenic obesity is where a person with excess body weight – particularly fat – has also lost a lot of muscle mass and strength.
The condition, driven by lack of exercise and poor nutrition, can sneak up on people and set in well before they realise there’s a problem. It can affect otherwise healthy people, especially from middle age onwards. A hidden condition Sarcopenic obesity is a hidden condition.
On the outside, the person may appear to have excess body weight – but on the inside, they have lost a lot of muscle mass and strength. Or they may not appear overweight but, in truth, they have lost muscle and gained fat. That means a person in their 60s who still wears the same size clothes they wore in their 20s could still have sarcopenic obesity.
While many people are aware of the health issues often associated with obesity (such as a higher risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and early death), the combined impact of both obesity and low muscle mass is even more harmful. This is because muscles are important .