“Skinny fat” is bad news for brain

Air Force One flies over Bush Library today “Skinny fat?” Sounds crazy right? But there really is such a thing. It means being fat at the expense of muscle mass and strength … like a 98 pound weakling swathed in fat. Sedentary lifestyles and overeating cause “skinny fat.” The upcoming holidays may promote both causes. The problem is more common in the elderly, because muscle development requires exercise, and for most people, the older you get the less exercise you do. Also, as you age, muscle mass automatically decreases, unless you have a special exercise regimen to build muscle. Most men, for example, will lose about 30 percent of their muscle after age 30, at a rate of about 3 to 5 percent per year. Meanwhile, people continue to eat as usual as they age and typically gain weight – weight due to fat and not muscle, because exercise may not involve much more than moving fork and spoon. Only exercise can slow down loss of strength. More steaks and burgers won’t do it. So what’s the problem? You might ask, “What is the problem with some loss of muscle mass, as long as you don’t fall down and your fat does not cause health problems?” First of all, older people do fall—often. Loss of muscle mass and strength are part of the natural aging process (recall the TV commercial “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up”). Secondly, getting fat usually does cause health problems, especially cardiovascular disease and diabetes. But even if your blood pressure and cholesterol/lipid levels are okay, skinny-fat people have serious health risks. Obesity is associated with higher levels of Alzheimer’s disease and other structural abnormalities in brain. Low muscle mass (sarcopenia) by itself damages brain function; one study suggests this is due to […]

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