Associations between Muscle Strength with Different Measures of Obesity and Lipid Profiles in Men and Women: Results from RaNCD Cohort Study

ABSTRACT

We aimed to examine associations between muscle strength and obesity and serum lipid profile in Ravansar Non-Communicable Disease (RaNCD) cohort study. This study was conducted on 6,455 subjects aged 35–65 years old from baseline data of RaNCD in Iran. The associations between grip strength and adiposity measurements were explored using linear regression with adjustment for age, height, smoking status, alcohol intake, social class, and prevalent disease. The mean of body mass index (BMI) and muscle strength was 27.2 ± 4.6 kg/m² and 33.3 ± 11.5, respectively. Muscular strength increased with increasing BMI and waist circumference (WC) in both sexes. Multivariate regression analysis revealed a 3.24 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.29, 4.19) kg difference between BMI in top and bottom in men, and 1.71 (95% CI, 0.98, 2.34) kg/m² in women. After multivariable adjustment, a difference of 2.04 (95% CI, 1.12, 2.97) kg was observed between the top and bottom WC quartiles in men and 1.25 (95% CI, 0.51, 1.98) kg in women. In men, with increase of low-density lipoprotein and cholesterol, the mean muscle strength was significantly increased. Muscle strength may be associated with body composition and lipid profiles. Muscle strength can be an appropriate indicator for predicting some of the problems caused by body composition disorders, which requires further longitudinal studies.