Associations between domains of physical activity, sitting time, and different measures of overweight and obesity

Abstract

ObjectiveTo describe 1) cross-sectional associations between domain-specific physical activity, sitting time and different measures of overweight/obesity and 2) longitudinal associations between patterns of change in physical activity and overweight/obesity ten years later.MethodsCross-sectional and longitudinal analyses based on the first and second follow-up of the Swiss cohort study SAPALDIA (SAP) were conducted (SAP2 in 2002/03, SAP3 in 2010/11). Physical activity was assessed by self-report using the long International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and four short questions regarding moderate and vigorous activities. Overweight/obesity were defined based on body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and percent body fat based on bioelectric impedance analysis (BIA), all measured objectively. Multivariable logistic regression was used for analyses.ResultsCross-sectionally, leisure-time and vigorous physical activity were inversely associated with all obesity parameters. Most consistent associations were found with BIA percent body fat. There were no associations between work-related and domestic activities and overweight/obesity. Sitting time was positively associated with BIA percent body fat, but not with BMI, WHR and WHtR. Longitudinally, remaining inactive from SAP2 to SAP3 was associated with obesity and BIA percent body fat at SAP3 and with weight increase, becoming inactive with BIA percent body fat and weight increase.ConclusionsThe results support associations between physical activity and overweight/obesity cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Most consistent associations were found for BIA percent body fat. For prevention purposes, the results indicate that physical activity can have an important contribution to weight management.

Determinants of body mass index by gender in the Dikgale Health and Demographic Surveillance System site, South Africa

“…This finding concurs with recent reviews on the relationship of PA and obesity that suggested an absence of such a relationship [37,38]. Furthermore, work and domestic PA were not associated with obesity [39], supporting present findings. The commonly held position that increased physical activity is associated with a decrease in BMI [40,41] is in contrast with studies reporting positive associations between PA and BMI [15,16,42,43].…”

Association between sitting time and obesity: A population‐based study in Peru

“…Our results agree with other cross‐sectional studies reporting a higher probability of obesity among those spending at least 4 hours in sitting position . Interestingly, a cross‐sectional assessment of the Swiss Cohort Study found that sitting time was directly related to per cent body fat assessed by bio‐impedance analysis, but not with BMI or WHR as in our results …”

Aging human body: changes in bone, muscle and body fat with consequent changes in nutrient intake

“…However, there is still no consensus as to what level of body fat defines obesity in women or men. Recently, some researchers and fitness professionals used body fat of 32% as the cutoff for overweight/obesity in women , Wanner et al 2016. In other studies, the 35% body fat as a cutoff was used for obesity classification (Ilich et al 2015) and that of 33% and/or 38% showed adverse influence on various skeletal sites .…”

“…This is lower than the current cutoff for obesity being set at 40% body fat for women (Dufour et al 2013). As discussed above, different researchers used different levels for obesity classification in women, depending on the studied population and parameters examined (Ilich et al 2015, Wanner et al 2016. Moreover, Bosch and coworkers identified a cutoff of 38.3% body fat in women as an inflection point where the slope of the relation between visceral fat and percent body fat increases significantly (Bosch et al 2015).…”