Document Type
Article
Abstract
Obesity is a public health crisis, with prevalence rates tripling over the past 60 y. Although lifestyle modifications, such as diet and physical activity, remain the first-line treatments, recent anti-obesity medications (AOMs) have been shown to achieve greater reductions in body weight and fat mass. However, AOMs also reduce fat-free mass, including skeletal muscle, which has been demonstrated to account for 20% to 50% of total weight loss. This can equate to ∼6 kg or 10% of total lean mass after 12–18 mo, a loss comparable to a decade of human aging. Despite questions surrounding the clinical relevance of weight loss-induced muscle loss, the importance of adopting lifestyle behaviors such as eating a protein-rich diet and incorporating regular resistance training to support skeletal muscle health, long-term weight loss maintenance, and overall well-being among AOM users should be encouraged. Herein, we provide a rationale for the clinical significance of minimizing weight-loss-induced lean mass loss and emphasize the integration of diet and physical activity into AOM clinical care. Owing to a lack of published findings on diet and physical activity supporting skeletal muscle health with AOMs, specifically, we lean on findings from large-scale clinical weight loss and diet and exercise trials to draw evidence-based recommendations for strategies to protect skeletal muscle. We conclude by identifying gaps in the literature and emphasizing the need for future experimental research to optimize skeletal muscle and whole-body health through a balance of pharmacotherapy and healthy habits.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Publication Info
Published in Current Developments in Nutrition, Volume 8, Issue 11, 2024.
Rights
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of American Society for Nutrition. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
APA Citation
Grosicki, G. J., Dhurandhar, N. V., Unick, J. L., Arent, S. M., Thomas, J. G., Lofton, H., Shepherd, M. C., Kiel, J., Coleman, C., & Jonnalagadda, S. S. (2024). Sculpting Success: The Importance of Diet and Physical Activity to Support Skeletal Muscle Health during Weight Loss with New Generation Anti-Obesity Medications. Current Developments in Nutrition, 8(11), 104486.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdnut.2024.104486