ORIGINAL ARTICLE Associations between sedentary behaviour and body composition, muscle function and sarcopenia in community-dwelling older adults J. Gianoudis & C. A. Bailey & R. M. Daly Received: 10 March 2014 /Accepted: 8 September 2014 # International Osteoporosis Foundation and National Osteoporosis Foundation 2014 Abstract Summary While previous studies have reported detrimental associations of sedentary behaviours with cardiometabolic disorders and mortality, in this study, we report that higher levels of sitting time were associated with a greater risk of sarcopenia, with increased television (TV) viewing negatively associated with lean mass, independent of physical activity. Introduction Sedentary behaviour has been linked to cardio- metabolic disorders and mortality, but little is known about its effects on musculoskeletal health and function. This study investigated the relationship between total sitting and TV viewing time on sarcopenia and its determinants (muscle mass, strength and function) in older adults. Methods This cross-sectional study included 162 community- dwelling men and women aged 60 to 86 years who had complete assessment of total body and regional lean mass (LM) and fat mass (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA)), lower limb muscle strength, power and functional performance. Sarcopenia was defined as the lowest sex- specific quartile for relative appendicular LM plus muscle strength and/or gait speed. Total sitting and TV viewing time were self-reported using a validated questionnaire. A sitting fragmentation ratio, as an index of breaks in sitting time, was calculated as the number of sitting bouts divided by total sitting time. Results Greater overall sitting time was associated with an increased risk of sarcopenia; for each 1-h increment, the risk increased by 33 % [odds ratio 1.33 (95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.05, 1.68)], independent of physical activity and other lifestyle and confounding factors. TV viewing time was asso- ciated with lower total body and leg LM after adjusting for various confounders and fat mass. There were no associations between total sitting or TV viewing time or the fragmentation ratio with any other measure. Conclusion Higher levels of sedentary behaviour in older adults were associated with reduced muscle mass and an increased risk of sarcopenia in community-dwelling older adults, independent of physical activity. Keywords Functional capacity . Muscle mass . Older adults . Sarcopenia . Sedentary behaviour Introduction Prolonged periods of sedentary behaviour, defined as activi- ties such as sitting and watching television (TV) that do not increase energy expenditure substantially above resting levels (<1.5 metabolic equivalent units [METs]) [1], have been associated with a number of cardiometabolic-related disor- ders, including obesity [2, 3], insulin resistance [3, 4], meta- bolic syndrome [5], type 2 diabetes [6] and cardiovascular disease [7] as well as overall mortality [8], independent of physical activity levels. At present, the underlying mecha- nism(s) by which sedentary behaviours have deleterious ef- fects on these health outcomes remain uncertain. It has been proposed that reduced energy expenditure and a lack of local muscle contractile stimulation through prolonged sitting can lead to a suppression of lipoprotein lipase activity, which is important for triglyceride uptake and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol production, reduced insulin secretion and impaired blood glucose uptake by skeletal muscle [9] and/or an increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines [10], which has J. Gianoudis : R. M. Daly (*) Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research, School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Melbourne 3125, Australia e-mail: rmdaly@deakin.edu.au J. Gianoudis : C. A. Bailey : R. M. Daly NorthWest Academic Centre, Western Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia Osteoporos Int DOI 10.1007/s00198-014-2895-y