The aging population faces two conditions that threaten healthy aging: high fat mass (obesity) and low muscle mass and function (sarcopenia). The combination of both –referred to as sarcopenic obesity– synergistically increases the risk of adverse health outcomes. The two conditions often co-occur as they reinforce each other and share common etiologies, mainly poor nutrition and inactivity. To stimulate weight loss/prevent weight gain while preserving muscle mass, it is critical that both physical activity and adequate nutrition be addressed. However, many interventions have been proven unsuccessful aiming to achieve a behavior change to healthier lifestyles. Different motivational frameworks, as well as psychological interventions, can contribute to the promotion and maintenance of a healthy lifestyle. From this interdisciplinary perspective a scientifically proven, personalized, and acceptable intervention can be integrated into daily life. Health technologies (e.g. applications, wearables) can provide promising tools for delivering personalized and appealing lifestyle interventions to a large group of people while keeping health care costs low. At this moment, there is a lack of effective, sustainable interventions that focus on retirement as an important turning point to promote both nutrition and physical activity behaviour.

In the current presentation, we will present a brief overview of how sarcopenia, obesity, and sarcopenic obesity originate and the current knowledge on the preventative and treatment options. We will present the SONUTS project, the consortium, the aims, and some of the first results. Last, the importance of dietitians in the prevention and treatment of sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity will be highlighted.