This study aims to explore whether the current definitions of sarcopenia are applicable to the older Chinese population. Participants were 783 Chinese adults recruited from four regions in Mainland China: Jinan, Guangzhou, Xi’an, and Chengdu. Body composition was measured by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. Handgrip strength, body weight, and height were measured by trained technicians, and demographic data were collected through questionnaires. Relative appendicular skeletal muscle, skeletal muscle index (SMI=100 × skeletal muscle mass/body mass) and residuals methods were applied to identify sarcopenia. Compared with young adults, no significant decrease was found in the relative appendicular skeletal muscle (ASM/height²) in older adults. If the criterion of two standard deviations below the mean value of ASM/height² in young adults is used, none of older adults in this study could be diagnosed with sarcopenia. In addition, compared with the ASM/height² and residuals methods, SMI shows higher discriminating power in the identifying persons with low handgrip strength. The data suggest that ASM/height² method may not be appropriate for diagnosis of sarcopenia in Chinese population. However, whether SMI is a better choice remains inconclusive. Prospective studies are needed to clearly define sarcopenia in Chinese population.

Children’s low physical activity and health-related physical fitness levels may increase their risk of developing chronic diseases such as type II diabetes and hypertension [1, 2]. Participating in daily physical activity regularly is imperative in enhancing children’s motor skill competence early in life and health promotion across the lifespan [3, 4]. As known, the development of motor skill competence has been posited to be an important predictor for increased levels of children’s health-related physical fitness and physical activity behaviors, as well as improved health outcomes [5–9]. Motor skill competence has been defined as common fundamental motor skills and goal-oriented movements including large muscle groups or the whole body [10]. In general, motor skill competence consists of three major components: locomotor skills (i.e., the ability to move the body through space like running, jumping, and hopping), object control skills (i.e., the ability to move and manipulate objects in space like kicking, throwing, and catching), and stability skills (ability to maintain postural control like balancing, rolling, and stopping) [11].

Previous health studies have focused on the correlation between socioeconomic status (SES) and health. We pooled data from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (N = 9765) conducted in 2011, and examined the association of SES and health-related behavior with elderly health in China. The cumulative health disadvantage of the elderly caused by SES can be relieved by lifelong health-related behavior. In the same SES, the odds of self-rated health (SRH) as “good,” mini-mental state examination (MMSE) as “not impaired,” and activities of daily living (ADLs) as “not impaired” among the elderly who exercised regularly, were 46.9%, 28.6%, and 62.3% lower for the elderly who rarely exercised. The elderly who started doing regular exercise from 30 years old, achieved higher SRH, ADL, and MMSE scores to some extent. The health improvement advantage for the elderly who started doing regular exercises after 60 years old, was reduced. However, the odds of SRH as “good,” MMSE as “not impaired,” and ADLs as “not impaired” were still 3.4%, 12.5%, and 17.8%, respectively, higher than the respondents who never exercised. The health-related behaviors not only promote elderly health improvement, but its duration has also been found to be associated with the extent of health improvement.

The study aimed to describe the prevalence of sarcopenia and discussed the applicability of different diagnostic criteria in Chinese older adults. 286 Chinese adults (136 men and 150 women) aged 60–88 were recruited. The prevalence of sarcopenia were calculated using different diagnostic criteria. Physical functioning was compared in sarcopenic and non-sarcopenic older adults. Compared with the standard of EWGSOP (European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People), the prevalence of sarcopenia was higher when the IWGS (International Working Group on Sarcopenia) standard was applied (Men: 7.4% vs. 0.8%; Women: 4.7% vs. 0%). If the AWGS (Aisa Working Group on Sarcopenia) standard was applied, the prevalence was 5.9% in men and 0.7% in women. In conclusion, the prevalence of sarcopenia in Chinese older adults ranged from 0% to around 10% when the diagnostic criteria of IGWS, EWGSOP and AGWS were applied. Further studies are still needed to investigate appropriate diagnostic criterion of sarcopenia for Chinese population.

Based on the 2014 survey of physical activity and physical fitness data of 20 − 69 year old Chinese, this study aims to investigate the relationship between economic development and people’s physical activity in China. A total of 43,389 adults from 30 different regions in mainland China were recruited. The GDP per capita of the 30 regions were determined based on the 2013 annual statistical report released by the national bureau of statistics of China and provincial level statistics bureaus. A questionnaire was used to determine the participants’ exercise frequency, duration, and intensity. For the 30 regions surveyed, the correlation coefficients between GDP per capita and weekly activity were 0.23 for men and 0.15 for women. The correlation coefficients between GDP per capita and obesity rates were 0.52 for men and 0.39 for women. Although people in economically advanced regions in China currently engage in more physical activities than those in less economically developed regions, overweight and obesity persist as serious problems.