Higher protein diets and risk of cardiometabolic disease in sarcopenic obesity

Applications are invited for a PhD studentship to start in December 2016. The studentship will be based in the School of Sports Studies, Leisure and Nutrition (Faculty of Education, Health and Community) at LJMU and will require close cross-faculty collaboration with the Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences (RISES, Faculty of Science).

The project will involve the analysis of existing databases and measurement of cardiometabolic risk in sarcopenic obesity, including a range of plasma metabolites and dietary and physical activity assessment, which are involved in the aetiology of this growing problem.

Sarcopenic obesity (SO) is the combination of reduced muscle mass and elevated fat mass, especially visceral adipose tissue, largely observed in the elderly. While this ‘apple’ shape is well known to be associated with cardiometabolic disease, the risk is exacerbated in SO. Emerging evidence suggests that key inflammatory markers, lifestyle choices (sedentary behaviour/low physical activity), lower dietary protein intakes and other food choices are key factors involved in the aetiology of SO. The measurement of SO, with traditional anthropometric measures such as Body Mass Index (BMI) are problematic, due to low lean mass and high fat mass BMIs can still be within the normal range. There are now a number of contemporary anthropometric measures that may improve the detection of SO at the population level that require further research. The National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) is a large database with nutritional, physical activity, cardiometabolic risk markers, and other meta-data such as socioeconomic and education statistics. The data base is freely available for academic analysis.

The project will employ a multidisciplinary approach to analyse the prevalence of sarcopenic obesity within the above database with respect to its relationship with dietary protein, other dietary and lifestyle factors such as physical activity and exercise, with additional cross-sectional studies, hypothesis testing/proof of principle studies, and testing the feasibility of a large randomised controlled trial.


We are seeking a highly motivated, pro-active individual with an interest in ageing, obesity, physical activity, nutrition and cardiometabolic disease. Excellent personal skills for interacting with research participants, excellent organisational skills to coordinate the contribution of two faculties and enthusiasm for quantitative research methods and advanced analysis procedures are essential for this project.


Subject area(s) the project falls into Nutrition, Food Sciences, Biological Sciences, Exercise Sciences, Ageing