Sarcopenia Assessment Techniques

BMI cannot differentiate between body fat and muscle mass. This often results in misleading information with regard to the amount of fat in the individual, as muscle is denser than fat. (British Heart Foundation 2009). Meaning there is a potential risk of overestimating BMI in individuals with a high muscle mass, such as athletes.

mass index), which is defined as the individual’s body mass divided by the square of their

Thirteen healthy undergraduate students at the University of Brighton (8 males, 5 females; mean ± SD, age: 19.2 ± 1.5 years; body mass: 67.4 ± 16.1 kg; height: 177 ± 28.2m) were briefed with the study procedure. Their anthropometric data was collected, along with a medical questionnaire and their consent to participate in the study. All of the participants were familiar with the laboratory testing procedures.

The Army Body Composition Program (ABCP) relies on a basic form of body circumference measurements to determine a soldier’s body fat composition. Many people believe this standard of measuring is an unfair and inaccurate representation of their true body composition. There are several options that could provide a more accurate measurement such as hydrostatic testing, skin fold method, Bioelectric Impedance Analysis (BIA) only to name a few. There are many factors that influence the decisions of leaders such as availability, cost, reliability and accuracy of the method in which method they decide to use.

In this lab, the focus was to study muscular fitness. In muscular fitness, there are two main components of measurements that are being taken, which are muscular strength and muscular endurance. Muscular strength is an individual’s ability to exert their maximum force. To test muscular strength, there are multiple tests such as 1 RM , Static Handgrip Strength, and Back Strength Dynamometer test. Muscular endurance is an individual’s ability to sustain prolonged muscular contractions. Tests that reveal results about an individual’s muscular endurance would be tests such as YMCA Submaximal Bench Press, Push-Up, and Plank test. It is important to remember that there is no single test for endurance and strength that will tell an

Overweight is often misinterpreted as obesity, but it has been proven that individuals such as bodybuilders and professional athletes can be overweight yet they do not suffer from obesity. Obesity refers to just excessive body fat whereas overweight refers to excessive body weight including water, bone, fat, and muscle. A certain amount of fat is needed to store energy, heat insulation, shock absorption, and other functions, but when men reach more than twenty-five percent body fat, and women reach more than thirty percent they are considered obese. A person’s body mass index (BMI) is measured by dividing body weight in kilograms by the square of body height in meters (Wilmore, et al., 2008).

Body fat distribution can be estimated by skin fold measures, waist-to-hip circumference ratios, or techniques such as ultrasound, computed tomography, or magnetic resonance imaging.” (www.cdc.gov) The difference is that obesity is a definite problem, whereas being overweight can be directly related to obese but may just be that your lean muscle weight is higher than the average person in you height category.

About.com., 2013. Sports Medicine. [online] Endurance Training for Sports - What is Cardiovascular and Aerobic Fitness? Available at: [Assessed 15 May 2013].

This is a laboratory report on measuring body composition. The aim of the laboratory report was to compare two different field methods skinfolds and bioimpedance analysis to measure body composition and evaluate the most reliable doubly indirect method to measure body composition. A number of studies such as Kitano,T have shown a strong correlation between skinfold and bioelectrical impedance analysis and tend to have an average body fat difference of less than 0.6.

Evidence reveals that sarcopenia is indubitably initiating factor to increase weakness and develop advanced processes of frailty42,58,89,90. Notably, older adults having MSK are prone to impaired mobility and decreased physical activity; these problems are the trigger points influencing functional decline, frailty, dependency, and lessened quality of life. Repeatedly suffering from MSK–pain, impaired mobility, inactivity, and sarcopenia–is, therefore, a vicious cycle of developing frailty91.

When exercising, the weight or stress you’ve produced to the muscles can create resistance and then contraction of the muscles can be drawn out. These contractions enable the muscles significantly increase in size. Along with the increase in size is the increase in strength as well. Repeated exercise, coupled with weight bearing activities, hypertrophy, and medical term for increase in muscle size, of the muscles will be evident.

2014). Sarcopenia is characterized as a progressive condition and is caused by low levels of physical activity and increased levels of inflammation. Sarcopenia is very commonly seen in elderly patients and they often show signs of decline in physical functioning, strength and health (Iolascon et al. 2014). According to Santilli et al. (2014), if an elderly patient has low handgrip strength, that shows low levels of muscle strength and if an older adult has a slow walking speed or weak muscle power, those are signs of low muscle performance. Sarcopenia also correlates with fragility of elderly patients and increases the risk of falls (Santilli et al. 2014). According to Iolascon et al. (2014), it is an important risk factor for disability and mortality. One big role to prevent or postpone Sarcopenia is physical exercise. According to Iolascon et al. (2014), the best exercise to do is resistance training because it may maintain or increase muscular strength and

Aging of the population is a worldwide phenomenon that is accompanied by a series of modifications to several physiological parameters, such as a progressive increase in fat mass and a decrease in lean body mass. However, these alterations are not linear and must be constantly monitored.In elderly individuals, changes in body composition result in the prevalence of overweight and obesity combined with a loss of muscle mass and strength; this has recently been defined as sarcopenic obesity.Sarcopenic obesity is associated with functional limitations and increased mortality.The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of sarcopenic obesity and its association with obesity and sarcopenia in elderly Brazilian women. Two hundred

As individuals age changes occur physiologically that are part of normal aging. These changes occur in all organ systems and can impact an individual’s quality of life. The changes related to aging can be attributed to an individual’s genetic make up, lifestyle, physical activity, and dietary lifestyle. Being able to differentiate between normal changes in aging against disease process is important because it can help clinicians develop a plan of care (Boltz, Capezuti, Fulmer, & Zwicker, 2012). Creating an accurate plan of care for older adults will greatly impact their quality of life.

Obesity rates are soaring throughout North America (What Is Obesity?, 2013). With obesity reaching almost epidemic proportions in the United States, and the threat of a global epidemic, we must watch this alarming increase carefully ( Health Risks of Obesity, 2013). Obesity is defined as: "…an excess of adipose tissue…" (A Report of the Surgeon General, 2014). The two most common measures of obesity are Body Mass Index (BMI is a ratio of weight to height) and relative weight index, such as percent desirable weight (Body Mass Index , 2013). BMI is the most frequently used measure of obesity as it has a strong correlation with more direct measures of adiposity, such as underwater weighing (A Report of the Surgeon General, 2013). Some