Comparison of Muscle Mass Indexes According to Protein Intake in Obese Patients

Abstract

Obesity is a disease in which body fat excessively accumulates to the extent that health is negatively affected. Obesity is reported to be associated with diseases including diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, asthma, arthritis, heart disease, stroke, endometrial cancer, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer. According to a 2014 report by the World Health Organization (WHO), the obese population has more than doubled since 1980, and now comprises approximately 13% of the global adult population (11% and 15% of the male and female populations, respectively). This is also the case in Korea, where the obese population is steadily increasing at a higher rate than that noted previously. In 2013, the prevalence of adult obesity, defined as body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 kg/m, was approximately 32.5% (37.6% for men and 27.5% for women). Hence, a third of the Korean adult population is obese. Generally, BMI and waist circumference are used as indexes for obesity. Obesity is defined as a BMI ≥ 30 kg/m in Western countries and ≥ 25 kg/m in Asia-Pacific countries; the latter definition is used in Korea. Additionally, waist circumference and waist-hip ratio are used as indexes for abdominal obesity. The Korean Society for the Study of Obesity gives the definition of abdominal obesity as waist circumference ≥ 90 cm for men and ≥ 85 cm for women. BMI does not provide information regarding body fat mass or fat-free mass, but recent studies have reported that metabolic syndrome is associated with body fat and fat-free masses. Of several body composition measures, fat-free mass in particular has an inverse Jshaped association with all-cause mortality, and the level of fat-free Comparison of Muscle Mass Indexes According to Protein Intake in Obese Patients