Combined effect of physical activity and sedentary behavior on body composition in university students

Abstract

Background & aims: This study aimed to evaluate the domain-specific physical activity (PA) levels and sitting time of a sample of university students and examine the association of PA with percent body fat. Methods: Two hundred and twenty-one students were included in the analysis. We administered the long form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) twice within one-month interval. Total PA as well as occupational, transportation-, housework-, and leisure-related PA were assessed, in addition to sitting time. Dietary intake was derived from six non-consecutive 24-hour dietary recalls. Percent body fat (dependent variable) was analyzed using a bioelectrical impedance analyzer (BIA). Multivariate logistic regression, adjusted for potential confounders, examined the associations of domain-specific PA and sitting time with percent body fat. Results: Men had higher levels of total and leisure PA than women. All participants had prolonged sitting time, with 48% having a sitting time of more than 10.15 hours/day. In multivariate analysis, moderate leisure PA, compared to vigorous PA was associated with a lower percent body fat. This association remained statistically significant even after adjustment for energy intake and sitting time. Houseworkrelated PA was associated with a higher percent body fat. Conclusion: Moderate leisure PA was highly associated with percent body fat even after adjustment for confounding variables. Adequate interventions targeting this kind of leisure should be promoted among universities students.

Perfil del estudiante universitario con un estilo de vida insuficientemente activo (Profile of university student with an inadequately active lifestyle)

“…Pese a que los resultados indican que los sujetos con una composición de masa grasa más saludable tienen una menor probabilidad de alcanzar los niveles de AF recomendados, las pruebas de correlación entre el %MG y la AFT muestran una relación inversa y no significativa. Esto último estaría en consonancia con la relación inversa y de baja a moderada cuantía informada en diversos estudios entre la composición grasa y la AFM (Harmouche-Karaki, et al, 2020), la AF habitual (Gamarra, et al, 2021;Gómez, Ceballos, & Enríquez, 2018;Rangel, Rojas, & Gamboa, 2015;Ruchan, 2015;Serpa, et al, 2017;Zulet, et al, 2019) o la AFT (Wanner, et al, 2016;Zaccagni, Barbieri, & Gualdi, 2014). Aunque también hay estudios que no demuestran dicha relación (Castro, et al, 2018) o que indican que los estudiantes con peso normal (Meseguer, et al, 2009) y sobrepeso tienen más probabilidades de alcanzar los niveles de AF recomendados que aquellos con bajo peso y obesos (Acebes-Sánchez, et al, 2019;Scarapicchia, Sabiston, & Faulkner, 2015).…”

A study on the effects of health behavior and sports participation on female college students' body mass index and healthy promoting lifestyle

“…At the same time, different departments, schoolwork pressure and participation in leisure activities will also affect body composition ( 16 ). Studies have shown that high body fat, insufficient muscle mass and physical weakness can induce the risk of juvenile sarcopenia and obesity ( 17 ). Obesity can be caused by excessive body fat and obesity can cause comorbidify such as diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and mental disorders (such as social impairment and depression) ( 18 ).…”

The Role of Dietary Patterns and Dietary Quality on Body Composition of Adolescents in Chinese College

“…This popular technology has shown high agreement with the gold-standard dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) [ 12 , 13 ] in the past few years. It has also been used to evaluate the nutritional status of some populations, including college students [ 14 ]. Fat mass index (FMI) and fat-free mass index (FFMI) indices eliminate the differences of body fat percentages associated with height, which could be useful for the measurement of related body composition [ 15 ].…”