Can high body fat lead to physical disability?

Takeaway

• Increase in body fat was positively associated with widespread pain, low-back pain, knee pain and foot pain.
• Elevated body fat level can cause an increased risk for incident and worsening joint pain.

Why this matters

• Musculoskeletal pain is a major cause of disability as it leads to avoidance of physical activity which leads to weight gain.
• Location of tissue fat deposition should be considered as not all body tissues are homogeneous.

Study design

• Systematic review and meta-analysis of 14 studies including 12,942 participants investigating the association between body fat and musculoskeletal pain.
• Funding: None disclosed.

Key results

• A significant association between total body fat mass and widespread pain (standardised mean difference [SMD], 0.49; 95% CI, 0.37-0.61; P<.001).
• High body fat percentage showed positive association with low-back pain (SMD, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.17-0.52; P<.001), knee-pain (SMD, 0.18; 95% CI, 0.05-0.32; P=.009) and foot pain (SMD, 0.05; 95% CI, 0.03-0.06; P<.001).
• A musculoskeletal study showed an association between fat mass index and foot pain (OR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.04-1.57). Another longitudinal study showed an association of higher total fat mass with consistent (risk ratio [RR], 1.89; 95% CI, 1.43-2.51) and fluctuating knee pain (RR, 1.78; 95% CI, 1.41-2.25).

Limitations

• Lack of homogeneity in follow-up time.