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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2009 Jan 30.
Published in final edited form as: Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2008 Nov;11(6):693–700. doi: 10.1097/MCO.0b013e328312c37d

Table 1.

Comparison of different sarcopenic obesity definitions and prevalences

Definition of sarcopenic obesity N Mean age (SD) Prevalence*
New Mexico Aging Process Study [1]
  • -

    Sarcopenia: skeletal muscle mass -2 SD below mean of young population or < 7.26 kg/m2 in men and < 5.45 kg/m2 in women.

  • -

    Obesity: percentage body fat greater than median or > 27% in men and 38% in women.

 831 60 and over M: 4.4%
F: 3.0%
NHANES III [28]
  • -

    Sarcopenia: two lower quintiles of muscle mass (<9.12 kg/m2 in men and <6.53 kg/m2 in women)

  • -

    Obesity: two highest quintiles of fat mass (>37.16% in men and > 40.01% in women).

 M: 1391
F: 1591		 M: 76.3 (1.7†)
F: 77.3 (2.2†)		 M: 9.6%
F: 7.4%
[31]
  • -

    Sarcopenia: two lower quintiles of muscle mass (<5.7 kg/m2)

  • -

    Obesity: two highest quintiles of fat mass (>42.9%)

 F: 167 71.7 (2.4) F: 12.4%
*

Age and gender adjusted prevalence.

†

Standard error