A new study has found that “skinny fat” – the combination of low muscle mass and strength in the context of high fat mass – may be an important predictor of cognitive performance in older adults. While sarcopenia, the loss of muscle tissue that is part of the natural aging process, as well as obesity both negatively impact overall health and cognitive function, their coexistence poses an even higher threat, surpassing their individual effects.
A new study has found that “skinny fat” – the combination of low muscle mass and strength in the context of high fat mass – may be an important predictor of cognitive performance in older adults. While sarcopenia, the loss of muscle tissue that is part of the natural aging process, as well as obesity both negatively impact overall health and cognitive function, their coexistence poses an even higher threat, surpassing their individual effects.
The study, published in the journal Clinical Interventions in Aging , was led by researchers at Florida Atlantic University’s Comprehensive Center for Brain Health in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine.
Using data from a series of community-based aging and memory studies of 353 participants, the researchers assessed the relationship of sarcopenic obesity or skinny fat with performance on various cognition tests. The average age of the participants was 69. Data included a clinic visit, valid cognitive testing such as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment and animal naming; functional testing such as grip strength and chair stands; and body composition (muscle mass, body mass index, percent of body fat) measurements.
Results from the study show that sarcopenic obesity or “skinny fat” was associated with the lowest performance on global cognition, followed by sarcopenia alone and then obesity alone. Obesity and sarcopenia were associated with lower executive function such as working memory, mental flexibility, self-control and orientation when assessed independently and even more so when they occurred together.
Read more at Florida Atlantic University
Image: James E. Galvin, M.D., M.P.H., tests a patient's muscle strength in FAU's Comprehensive Center for Brain Health. (Credit: Florida Atlantic University)
