Research
Macro partitioning
Reduced muscle mass is a key phenotypic criterion for malnutrition, measurable by DXA, BIA, CT, MRI, or anthropometric proxies like calf/arm circumference.
Assess muscle mass using available tools like DXA, BIA, CT, or MRI. If these are unavailable, use anthropometric measures like calf or arm circumference, or functional assessments like grip strength.
StrongSupportsHIGH confidence
Reduced muscle mass is a phenotypic criterion with strong evidence to support its inclusion in the GLIM consensus criteria.
Why this rating
Strong evidence and consensus.
Source
GLIM criteria for the diagnosis of malnutrition – A consensus report from the global clinical nutrition community
Tommy Cederholm et al. · Journal of Cachexia Sarcopenia and Muscle · 2019
DOI 10.1002/jcsm.12383
clinical_guidelineCited 1,643×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Diagnosing malnutrition requires the concurrent presence of at least one phenotypic criterion (weight loss, low BMI, or reduced muscle mass) and one etiologic criterion (reduced food intake/assimilation or disease burden/inflammation).Strong
- Inflammation and disease burden are critical etiologic criteria for malnutrition, contributing to altered metabolism, increased muscle catabolism, and adverse outcomes.Strong
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