The number of obese older adults is on the rise, although we lack a proper definition of obesity in this age group. The ambiguity is primarily related to sarcopenia, the progressive loss of muscle and gain in fat that come with aging. Whether to treat and how to treat obesity in the elderly is controversial because of a paucity of established guidelines, but also because of the obesity paradox—ie, the apparently protective effect of obesity in this age group. Treatment of obesity in older adults is controversial because of inadequate guidelines and the obesity paradox, the apparently protective effect of obesity with age.
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Cetin et al. (2014) studied this question.
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