Weak grip and obesity linked to multiple conditions in India
Obesity with weak grip was linked to 3.14 times the odds of multiple heart and metabolic conditions compared with neither feature.
Limit: Dietary intake and nutritional adequacy were unmeasured, potentially confounding the association
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
The cross-sectional observational analysis included 46,563 Indian adults aged 50 or older from the Longitudinal Aging Study in India. Researchers used age-specific handgrip strength thresholds to identify possible sarcopenia, a condition involving reduced muscle mass and strength. They defined obesity as a body mass index—a measure based on weight and height—of at least 25.
Participants had multiple heart and metabolic conditions if they reported at least two of five diagnoses: high blood pressure, diabetes, chronic heart disease, stroke or high cholesterol. Overall, 12.9% met this definition. After accounting for factors including age, sex and physical activity, the odds ratios compared with people with neither feature were 3.14 for those with both, 1.92 for obesity alone and 1.18 for possible sarcopenia alone.
Why it matters
For older Indian adults, the findings support screening approaches that assess muscle function alongside body fat when looking for overlapping heart and metabolic conditions.
Caveats
Cross-sectional data cannot show whether low strength and obesity preceded or caused the other conditions. Diagnoses were self-reported, and grip strength indicated only possible sarcopenia; the findings concern Indian adults aged 50 or older.
From the paper
- Participants
Among the 46,563 participants aged 50 years and above included in this analysis, 5,998 (12.9%) met criteria for cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CMM).
- Result
Relative to the Normal group, odds of CMM were significantly elevated among participants with sarcopenic obesity (OR 3.14, 95% CI 2.56–3.85), followed by obesity only (OR 1.92, 95% CI 1.60–2.30), and sarcopenia only (OR 1.18, 95% CI 1.02–1.35).
- Limitation
First, the cross-sectional design precludes any causal or directional inference between SO and CMM, or between any covariate and CMM; associations reported here should not be interpreted as evidence of causation, and longitudinal data would be needed to examine temporal sequencing.
Quoted word for word from the full text on link.springer.com.
The paper
Indian Institute of Science Bangalore
Discover Public Health, Oct 14, 2026, Open access, CC BY-NC-ND
