Cross-sectional associations between different measures of obesity and muscle strength in men and women in a British Cohort Study
Cross-sectional associations between different measures of obesity and muscle strength in men and women in a British Cohort Study
Objectives: the relationship between obesity and grip strength, a key indicator of sarcopenia, has been inconsistently reported. We aimed to examine associations between grip strength and both body mass index (BMI), a clinical indicator of total adiposity, and waist circumference (WC), an indicator of central adiposity
Design: cross-sectional study
Setting and participants: data collected from 8,441 men and women, aged 48–92 years old, who attended the third health examination of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer-Norfolk study was used
Measurements: maximum grip strength (Smedley dynamometer), BMI (weight/height2) and WC (measured at the natural waist) were ascertained at a research clinic. The associations between grip strength and adiposity measures were explored using linear regression with adjustment for age, height, social class, physical activity, prevalent disease, smoking status and alcohol intake
Results: men and women were examined separately and those in the upper quartile of BMI were 2.70kg (95%CI 2.07, 3.33) and 1.46kg (95%CI 1.05, 1.86) stronger respectively than those in the bottom quartile (P trends <0.001). Grip strength also increased weakly with increasing WC. However, including both BMI and WC in the same regression model revealed an inverse association between grip strength and WC, whilst the previously observed association with BMI strengthened. For every 10cm increase in WC, grip strength was 3.56kg (95%CI 3.04, 4.08) lower in men and 1.00kg (95%CI 0.74, 1.24) lower in women
Conclusions: larger overall body mass, indicated by higher BMI, is associated with stronger grip strength but high WC, a clinical indicator of central obesity, is associated with lower grip strength. Abdominal fat is the most metabolically active adipose tissue and this provides a clue to potential mechanisms underlying relationships between fat and skeletal muscle. Additionally, it reinforces the recommendation to measure WC in clinical practice, especially when BMI is below obese ranges
3-11
Keevil, V.L.
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Luben, R.
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Dalzell, N.
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Hayat, S.
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Sayer, A.A.
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Wareham, N.J.
7765cb0f-cc0c-4e64-b410-25dfde09806b
Khaw, K.T.
fcf47d76-59c6-4542-80e6-0843eca4ad8c
2015
Keevil, V.L.
a5d2a9b1-8106-47c0-82e5-fdbb9e5e82be
Luben, R.
bc2d12a2-27cf-4d0f-bc02-ee00b7b7b5d5
Dalzell, N.
6888771c-e698-47c9-b0f6-866f54a4d64b
Hayat, S.
c9df0f6d-cfd9-4047-941b-c869f8ee6287
Sayer, A.A.
fb4c2053-6d51-4fc1-9489-c3cb431b0ffb
Wareham, N.J.
7765cb0f-cc0c-4e64-b410-25dfde09806b
Khaw, K.T.
fcf47d76-59c6-4542-80e6-0843eca4ad8c
Keevil, V.L., Luben, R., Dalzell, N., Hayat, S., Sayer, A.A., Wareham, N.J. and Khaw, K.T.
(2015)
Cross-sectional associations between different measures of obesity and muscle strength in men and women in a British Cohort Study.
The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging, 19 (1), .
(doi:10.1007/s12603-014-0492-6).
(PMID:25560810)
Abstract
Objectives: the relationship between obesity and grip strength, a key indicator of sarcopenia, has been inconsistently reported. We aimed to examine associations between grip strength and both body mass index (BMI), a clinical indicator of total adiposity, and waist circumference (WC), an indicator of central adiposity
Design: cross-sectional study
Setting and participants: data collected from 8,441 men and women, aged 48–92 years old, who attended the third health examination of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer-Norfolk study was used
Measurements: maximum grip strength (Smedley dynamometer), BMI (weight/height2) and WC (measured at the natural waist) were ascertained at a research clinic. The associations between grip strength and adiposity measures were explored using linear regression with adjustment for age, height, social class, physical activity, prevalent disease, smoking status and alcohol intake
Results: men and women were examined separately and those in the upper quartile of BMI were 2.70kg (95%CI 2.07, 3.33) and 1.46kg (95%CI 1.05, 1.86) stronger respectively than those in the bottom quartile (P trends <0.001). Grip strength also increased weakly with increasing WC. However, including both BMI and WC in the same regression model revealed an inverse association between grip strength and WC, whilst the previously observed association with BMI strengthened. For every 10cm increase in WC, grip strength was 3.56kg (95%CI 3.04, 4.08) lower in men and 1.00kg (95%CI 0.74, 1.24) lower in women
Conclusions: larger overall body mass, indicated by higher BMI, is associated with stronger grip strength but high WC, a clinical indicator of central obesity, is associated with lower grip strength. Abdominal fat is the most metabolically active adipose tissue and this provides a clue to potential mechanisms underlying relationships between fat and skeletal muscle. Additionally, it reinforces the recommendation to measure WC in clinical practice, especially when BMI is below obese ranges
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Accepted/In Press date: 1 April 2014
e-pub ahead of print date: 10 October 2015
Published date: 2015
Additional Information:
Couldn't upload pdf from publisher website. TJW 26/2/15
Organisations:
Human Development & Health
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Local EPrints ID: 374650
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/374650
ISSN: 1279-7707
PURE UUID: 1f4bd790-e251-4313-bf13-1c63732825bc
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Date deposited: 26 Feb 2015 10:05
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 19:10
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Contributors
Author:
V.L. Keevil
Author:
R. Luben
Author:
N. Dalzell
Author:
S. Hayat
Author:
A.A. Sayer
Author:
N.J. Wareham
Author:
K.T. Khaw
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