Sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity

Sarcopenia is a progressive generalised skeletal muscle disorder that is associated with increased likelihood of adverse outcomes including falls, fractures, physical disability and mortality. Sarcopenic obesity is a clinical and functional condition characterized by the coexistence of excess fat mass and sarcopenia. In 2018, the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People presented updated data on sarcopenia (EWGSOP2). The European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) and the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO) launched an initiative to reach expert consensus on a definition and diagnostic criteria for sarcopenic obesity. This article contains the main provisions of the documents and a review of the literature on the mechanisms, diagnosis and clinical significance of sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity.