Appendicular and central fat storage is negatively related to self-perceived fatigue and muscle performance in obese boys and girls

Introduction: Maximal strength is an important factor to perform daily activities, especially in obese persons whose muscles must carry heavier loads, which can induce higher levels of fatigue. Excess weight consists mainly of fat mass but also lean mass which can influence the muscle performance positively in non-weight bearing activities. Studies correlating grip strength with segmental and total body composition (using DXA) in obese children are scarce. This study explores the relation between self-perceived fatigue, body composition and muscle performance in obese adolescents
Methods: 40 girls and 97 boys were examined for body composition (DXA), muscle performance (maximal grip strength, fatigue resistance and grip work) and self-perceived fatigue (Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory, MFI-20).

Results: Girls showed no difference in absolute muscle performance compared to boys, when corrected for lean arm mass girls performed better than boys. No significant difference was found between the sexes for absolute fat mass, but girls showed significant higher fat percentage and lower lean mass than boys. Grip strength showed good correlations with lean mass (expressed in absolute and relative values) in as well appendicular segments as total body composition and a negative correlation was found for fat% in both sexes. Self-perceived fatigue was positively related to fat mass and negative related to lean mass. No relations were found between grip performance and self-perceived fatigue.

Conclusion: Based on our results we can state that self-perceived fatigue and handgrip performance are influenced by segmental and total body composition. Further studies are necessary to evaluate whether self-perceived fatigue is affected by weight loss interventions.

ISBN:978-3-318-05493-4

Publication year:2015