Healthy Living

To explore the link between grip strength and the risk of developing obesity-related health problems such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and early death, researchers followed nearly 100,000 adults from the UK Biobank with “preclinical obesity” for about 13 years on average.

Preclinical obesity describes the period in which extra body fat is beginning to affect the body in unhealthy ways — but before any obesity-related diseases have developed or been diagnosed.

Grip strength was measured with a hand dynamometer, a device you squeeze as hard as possible. Then researchers split people into a few groups according to their sex and whether their grip strength was low, medium, or high.

After adjusting for many factors that could influence the results, such as age, sex, blood pressure, blood sugar, smoking, activity, diet, and medications, the investigators found:

People in the group with the highest grip strength were less likely to die during the study period, compared with people in the weakest group.
Higher grip strength was linked to a significantly lower risk of transitioning from having two or more obesity-linked conditions to a death related to heart disease or cancer.

Key Takeaways

A recent study linked greater grip strength to a lower risk of developing chronic health issues or dying early due to obesity.
Grip strength is a good proxy for overall muscle strength and physical function.
Regular strength training that builds muscle and grip can improve blood pressure, insulin sensitivity, and inflammation.

Why would having a weaker grip put you at higher risk of developing health issues related to obesity?

“Grip strength reflects how well the body’s muscles are functioning, which in turn influences metabolism, insulin sensitivity, and inflammation, all of which are critical in obesity-related diseases,” explains Angermeier.

People with lower muscle strength tend to have higher levels of inflammation and poorer blood sugar control, which can accelerate problems like liver disease, heart disease, and diabetes, he says.

“While excess fat contributes to disease, poor muscle function seems to make those risks even worse,” says Angermeier.

This study underscores a broader message: Muscle is medicine, he says. “In an era when obesity and metabolic disease are common, maintaining strength and muscle quality may be as important as managing weight,” says Angermeier.