Obese Frailty and Combined Exercise

Abstract

PURPOSE Frailty is a geriatric syndrome that impairs the health and quality of life of older adults. While unintended weight loss is known to be a primary risk factor for frailty, obesity has also been closely associated with frailty. Combined exercise is thought to be an effective way of resolving obesity and frailty, but studies demonstrating the effect of combined exercise on obese frailty are lacking. In this review, we seek to understand the relevant mechanisms by exploring prior studies on obese frailty, and provide the implications of appropriate combined exercise interventions for obese frailty. METHODS To collect data for this study, we used academic search systems such as Scopus, Google Scholar, PubMed, and Web of Science. The keywords used for the search were a combination of words such as ’obesity’, ‘frailty’, ‘combined or multicomponent exercise’, and ‘older or elderly adults’. RESULTS The results from the 16 selected articles confirmed that combined exercise reduces body weight, percentage of body fat, and risk of falls. Moreover, it improves muscle strength, balance, and walking function of the obese frail population. CONCLUSIONS As we have confirmed the positive outcomes on the combined exercise for obese frail older adults, an optimal exercise program needs to be presented. Older adults with obesity are recommended to exercise at least 2-3 times a week during the initial period. Further, they should begin with low-intensity walking, full-body exercise, balance, and flexibility exercises, then gradually increase the exercise volume. Moreover, to facilitate the positive outcomes of physical training and to encourage autonomy and enjoyment of exercise among obese frail older adults, a novel method and an individualized scientific exercise program need to be developed.

Keywords

• obesity
• frailty
• older adult
• sarcopenia
• combined exercise