A citizen’s hand tightly gripping a subway handle. Recent research has shown that stronger grip strength is associated with a lower risk of organ damage or death due to obesity. Getty Images Bank
What matters more than ‘fat’ was ‘strength.’
A new study suggests that even if someone is obese, having more muscle and stronger grip strength can lead to lower risks of organ dysfunction or early death. Measuring simple ‘grip strength’ can serve as an indicator of complications risk due to obesity.
Researchers from the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University (Dr. Yon Shen and Dr. Kang Hu) published these findings on the 21st (local time) in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), the official journal of the Endocrine Society.
The research team analyzed the correlation between grip strength and obesity-related diseases and mortality by tracking over 93,275 individuals registered in the UK Biobank for more than 13 years.
The results showed that individuals with stronger grip strength had significantly lower risks of organ damage or death related to obesity.
For each 1 standard deviation increase in grip strength measured by a hydraulic hand dynamometer (approximately 10-12 kg), the risk of obesity-related organ damage decreased by about 14%. The top group with the strongest grip strength had a 20% lower risk of obesity-related organ damage and a 23% lower risk of all-cause mortality compared to the lowest group.
Dr. Shen stated, “Muscle strength is an important physiological indicator that can identify the risk of organ damage due to obesity early,” and added, “Grip strength, which can be measured easily without special equipment, can be a practical tool to detect and respond to obesity risk early.”
Recently, ‘muscle strength-centered health indicators’ have emerged as a new standard for predicting obesity-related diseases in academia.
Muscle weakness is closely linked to metabolic diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and increased early mortality rates due to abdominal obesity.
Co-author Dr. Kang Hu emphasized, “Maintaining muscle strength plays a role in buffering the negative effects of excessive body fat on organs,” adding, “The key to obesity management is not body weight but maintaining muscle.”