Sarcopenia is a syndrome associated with aging that is characterized by a progressive loss of strength, muscle mass and physical performance. Its development is multifactorial and involves aspects such as age, level of physical activity, diet and changes in body composition throughout life. Among the latter, the amount and distribution of body fat can play a relevant role.
“Abdominal fat is not distributed in the same way in all people nor does it have the same characteristics depending on whether it accumulates under the skin or around the organs,” explains Anna Pedret, researcher in the Functional Nutrition, Oxidation and Cardiovascular Diseases (NFOC-Health) research group at the Rovira i Virgili University. The group is studying, together with researchers from the Institute for Biomedical Research in Southern Catalonia, and with the participation of the Sant Joan University Hospital in Reus and the University of La Rioja, the relationship between this fat distribution and different health indicators. In a previous work, its relationship with metabolic alterations had already been analyzed, and now it has studied its association with different parameters related to sarcopenia.
The new research, published in the journal Frontiers in Endocrinology , was carried out on 72 people aged between 60 and 74 from the Camp de Tarragona area, 49 of whom were women. The researchers studied the amount and distribution of abdominal fat using ultrasound, differentiating between visceral adipose tissue (VAT), located around the organs, and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), which is located under the skin. Claudia Jiménez-ten Hoevel, first author of the article, highlights the advantages of ultrasound over conventional assessment methods: “Conventional measurements such as waist circumference or body mass index do not allow us to know how fat is distributed within the body. Thanks to the validation of ultrasound to make this type of measurement, we have much more precise information at our disposal.”
To evaluate the muscular condition and functional capacity of the people in the sample, the researchers measured three aspects: muscle mass, hand grip strength and physical performance, with the walking speed test.
The results show that the distribution of abdominal fat is associated differently with parameters related to sarcopenia according to sex. In both men and women, a greater amount of visceral fat (VAT) was associated with greater muscle mass, but also with lower muscle strength. In women, in addition, subcutaneous abdominal fat (SAT) was the only type of fat that was associated with worse physical performance.
These results highlight that, beyond the amount of fat accumulated, its distribution is also important, especially in the context of aging and muscle health. Therefore, the team argues that taking into account the distribution of abdominal fat provides relevant information for evaluating the different components of sarcopenia.
An accessible way to study abdominal fat
One of the interests of the study is the use of ultrasound to determine the distribution of abdominal fat. Currently, in routine clinical practice, the risk associated with abdominal fat is assessed using waist circumference. However, this measurement is as simple as it is limited, since it does not allow distinguishing between subcutaneous and visceral fat. Imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography offer this information with great precision, but they are expensive, require specialized equipment and are not easily accessible in primary care.
Ultrasound, on the other hand, is a non-invasive and more accessible technique that allows us to estimate visceral and subcutaneous fat: “It allows us to differentiate the compartments of abdominal fat in a non-invasive and more accessible way than other imaging techniques. This information can complement common measures such as waist circumference or body mass index, which do not allow us to know where fat accumulates,” says Jiménez-ten Hoevel.
Reference: Jiménez-ten Hoevel C, Gironès I, Nicolás-Marzo J, Besora-Moreno M, Queral J, Valls RM, Pérez-Matute P, Motilva MJ, Llauradó E, Solà R and Pedret A (2026) Ultrasound-assessed abdominal fat distribution and its relationship to sarcopenia parameters in the community young older adults: a cross-sectional study . Front. Endocrinol. 17:1888492. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2026.1888492