Association of fat-to-muscle mass ratio with physical activity and dietary protein, carbohydrate, sodium, and fiber intake in a cross-sectional study

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Higher fat-to-muscle mass ratio (FMR) is reported to be a risk factor for various diseases, including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, and mortality. Although this association suggests that reducing FMR may help to prevent certain diseases and mortality, the relationship between FMR and lifestyle factors is unclear. Therefore, we performed a cross-sectional study with the aim to elucidate this relationship. This cross-sectional study included 1518 healthy Japanese adults aged 30 to 64 years. We measured FMR in the whole body, arms, legs, and trunk and assessed various lifestyle factors. Then, we performed forced entry multiple regression analyses for FMR with the following variables: sex, age, physical activity, dietary intake, sleep quality, cigarette smoking, stress levels, and body mass index. As a result, whole-body and regional FMRs were correlated with female sex (β = 0.71); age (β = 0.06); physical activity (β = − 0.07); dietary intake of protein (β = − 0.12), carbohydrate (β = 0.04), sodium (β = 0.13), and fiber (β = − 0.16); and body mass index (β = 0.70). The results suggest that in the Japanese middle-aged population, low FMR is associated with certain lifestyle factors, i.e. higher physical activity and a diet with higher protein and fiber and lower carbohydrate and sodium, independent of age, sex, and body mass index.</jats:p>