Cross‐sectional associations of objectively measured physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness and anthropometry in European adults

Abstract

Objective: To quantify the independent associations between objectively measured physical activity (PA), cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), and anthropometry in European men and women. Methods: 2,056 volunteers from 12 centers across Europe were fitted with a heart rate and movement sensor at 2 visits 4 months apart for a total of 8 days. CRF (ml/kg/min) was estimated from an 8 minute ramped step test. A cross-sectional analysis of the independent associations between objectively measured PA (m/s 2 /d), moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA) (%time/d), sedentary time (%time/d), CRF, and anthropometry using sex stratified multiple linear regression was performed. Results: In mutually adjusted models, CRF, PA, and MVPA were inversely associated with all anthropometric markers in women. In men, CRF, PA, and MVPA were inversely associated with BMI, whereas only CRF was significantly associated with the other anthropometric markers. Sedentary time was positively associated with all anthropometric markers, however, after adjustment for CRF significant in women only. Conclusion: CRF, PA, MVPA, and sedentary time are differently associated with anthropometric markers in men and women. CRF appears to attenuate associations between PA, MVPA, and sedentary time. These observations may have implications for prevention of obesity.

Associations of Objectively Measured Physical Activity and Abdominal Fat Distribution

“…This finding is also in agreement with previous evi dence that SED is positively associated with waist circum ference independent of MVPA (10). A further study of 2056 European healthy middle-age adults found a positive as sociation between SED measured using accelerometry and anthropometric measures including waist circumference (32), and Smith et al (22) found a significant positive as sociation between SED and VAT in women. Other studies did not find such associations, but these are characterized by smaller study samples and/or self-reported PA assess ment (15,20).…”

“…A recent large study of objectively measured PA and an thropometry has suggested that there may be sex differences in such associations (32). One would perhaps expect sex differences in the association between PA and abdominal fat distribution, given the well-known difference in abdominal fat distribution between the sexes, although we had no spe cific a priori hypothesis regarding this.…”

“…Given that sleep may be inversely associated with obesity (16), sleep and SED may be associated with VAT and SAT in opposite directions, thus attenuating the asso ciations found. However, others have found that excluding data recorded from midnight to 6 a.m. made little difference in a similar analysis of the association between sedentary time and anthropometries (32).…”

Characteristics of Victims of Fall-Related Accidents during Mountain Hiking

“…These results are in line with the results of a cohort study on 184,697 Austrian adults (85,000 men, 99,697 women), which showed higher percentages of women in comparison to men in the BMI-classes below 22.4 (42.4% vs. 21.3%, respectively) [18]. Other studies, conducted on German and European populations, confirm a higher mean BMI of adult men compared to women (Germans: 26.1 vs. 25.2; Europeans: 27.1 vs. 25.3) [19,20]. In comparison to mountain hikers in general [3], the victims in the present study had a slightly higher mean BMI.…”

Choosing Exercise Cadence on the Outdoor Stepper for Various Exercise Intensity

“…A common viewpoint is that health and performance levels could best be improved by activities starting from moderate to vigorous levels (Wientzek et al, 2014). According to the recommendation of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), if moderate to vigorous intensities are targeted, the maximum heart rate (HRmax) during exercise should be from 64% to 94% for healthy adults.…”