Relationship between physical activity levels and body composition of candidates for bariatric surgery: a pilot study

Obesity is a public health issue that is associated with the development of cardiometabolic and musculoskeletal multimorbidities, such as sarcopenia. Furthermore, the population with severe obesity confronts various barriers that hinder the practice of physical exercise, which exposes them to greater risk and fragility. In light of this, a pilot study was conducted to characterize the population eligible for bariatric surgery regarding body composition and physical activity levels and verify the relationship between the degrees of the degrees of obesity and sarcopenia. In total, a sample of 41 individuals were included in the analysis, all of whom were female, with an average age of 45 years and weighing 108 kilos, mostly with sarcopenia (28 individuals). It was possible to observe a significant difference in the fat mass of the population with Obesity in Class 2 and 3 (p> 0.001), Class 2 and 4 (p> 0.001), Class 3 and 4 (p > 0.002), and in the % fat of the population with Class 2 and 3 obesity (p> 0.001) and Class 2 and 4 ((p> 0.002), both with strong effect sizes (0.7 and 0.5, respectively). It was possible to observe a significant difference in lean mass between the sarcopenia classification groups (p<0.001) but no significant difference was observed between the physical activity levels. The candidates for bariatric surgery predominantly have Class II and III obesity, interfering with body composition (lean mass, % body fat, and BMD), and, consequently, exposing greater physical and functional fragility. Although sarcopenia and a sedentary lifestyle are presented in the literature as conditions that impact body composition, it was not possible to identify significant differences in the sample.