Sarcopenic obesity is associated with adverse health outcomes in older adults.

Physical activity and sedentary behavior are important modifiable factors.

Long-term regular physical activity can help reduce the developing sarcopenic obesity.

Sarcopenia is characterized by decreased muscle mass and strength, and when combined with obesity, it is called sarcopenic obesity (SO). Like sarcopenia, SO is associated with adverse health outcomes This study aimed to investigate the association between SO with the longitudinal, long-term trajectories of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB).

Data came from four waves of the WHO Study on Global AGEing and Adult Health (SAGE) in Mexico (2009, 2014, 2017, 2021). A total of 1484 older adults aged 50 years and above were included in the study. PA and SB were determined by using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire. Sarcopenia was defined according to the criteria of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People, and obesity according to waist circumference. Growth mixture modeling was used to investigate the longitudinal trajectories of PA and SB.

Three longitudinal trajectories of PA and SB were found: low-PA-decreasers, moderate-PA-decreasers, and high-PA-decreasers for PA; and low-maintainers, steep-decreasers, and steep-increasers for SB. Decreased odds of SO were consistently associated with better PA and SB trajectories.

The results of this study showed that sustained long-term trajectories of adequate levels of PA and SB are associated with lower rates of SO. The findings of this study support the evidence that regular PA can help reduce the likelihood of developing SO.

Sarcopenic obesity

Physical activity

Sedentary behavior

Prevalence

Incidence

Mexico

The raw datasets analyzed during the current study are available in the following repositories:

© 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc.