Associations of physical activity with body weight and fat in men and women

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Increasing physical activity is strongly advocated as a key public health strategy for weight gain prevention. We investigated associations of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) and occupationaladomestic physical activity with body mass index (BMI) and a skinfold-derived index of body fat (sum of six skinfolds), among normal-weight and overweight men and women. DESIGN: Analyses of cross-sectional self-report and measured anthropometric data. SUBJECTS: A total of 1302 men and women, aged 18 ± 78 y, who were part of a randomly selected sample and who agreed to participate in a physical health assessment. MEASUREMENTS: Self-report measures of physical activity, measured height and weight, and a skinfold-derived index of body fatness. RESULTS: Higher levels of LTPA were positively associated with the likelihood of being in the normal BMI and lower body fat range for women, but few or no associations were found for men. No associations were found between measures of occupationaladomestic activity and BMI or body fat for men or women. CONCLUSION: By using a skinfold sum as a more direct measure of adiposity, this study extends and con®rms the previous research that has shown an association between BMI and LTPA. Our results suggest gender differences in the relationship of leisure-time physical activity with body fatness. These ®ndings, in conjunction with a better understanding of the causes of such differences, will have important public health implications for the development and targeting of weight gain prevention strategies. International Journal of Obesity (2001) 25, 914 ± 919

Lifestyle correlates of anthropometric estimates of body adiposity in an Italian middle-aged and elderly population: a covariance analysis

“…Then, a residual confounding effect on the relationship with BMI is possible. However, our results are in line with the findings of other population studies, 15,70 which found no association between work-related physical activity and BMI. The relationship between leisure-time physical activity and BMI has been found to be stronger in women than men.…”

“…The relationship between leisure-time physical activity and BMI has been found to be stronger in women than men. 15,71 A recent randomised and controlled trial has found that regular exercise such as walking reduces the weight and body fat of women aged 50-75 years, 72 and we found that overall body fat inversely related to walking/ cycling and significantly increased with the time of watching TV in women but not in men. Another gender difference found in the literature concerns the relationship between physical activity and abdominal obesity, as it has been found that increased energy expenditure reduces the WHR and WC in men but not in women after controlling for BMI, 73 but it is not clear whether these results reflect biological or methodological factors.…”

“…Observational studies have failed to find any consistent association between dietary patterns and BMI, not only because of the well-known problems of dietary under-reporting or misclassification, but also because obesity can be more precisely measured on the basis of body composition or body fat distribution. 14 Furthermore, the inconsistent findings of studies of the relationship between physical activity and BMI-assessed obesity have been partly attributed to the confounding effect of muscle mass, 15 and so also the contradictory results of studies investigating the influence of behavioural factors (particularly, alcohol consumption) on central adiposity as measured using the waist-hip ratio (WHR), which is affected by both intra-abdominal fat and gluteal muscle mass. 16 It is now well known that both body composition (lean and fat mass) and body fat distribution (the body shape) play a major role in causing morbidity and mortality.…”

Longitudinal relationships between occupational and domestic physical activity patterns and body weight in China

“…While some inverse associations have been reported between occupational activity and obesity and its associated sequelae (King et al, 2001;Barengo et al, 2004;Mummery et al, 2005), others have found no association (Ball et al, 2001;GutierrezFisac et al, 2002). The majority of this work investigates Model 2 also includes occupational activity as specified in Model 1, results did not substantially differ so are not shown above.…”

Leisure-time physical activity and sedentary behavior clusters and their associations with overweight in middle-aged French adults

“…This gender difference has been reported in previous studies and may be explained, at least in part, by differences in how physical activity and sedentary behavior is self-reported (for example, men tend to overreport their levels of physical activity), by differences in type, intensity and duration of physical activity performed or by differences in energy intake. 59 Interestingly, in women, the cluster including 'multiple activity/low TV' was also associated with decreased likelihood of overweight, even if most activities were performed with a duration below the median. Although the optimal level of physical activity that would prevent weight gain is still debated, 60,61 these data are in agreement with the notion that even in the absence of high-intensity physical activity, some energy expended during leisure time may be beneficial for weight control.…”