Long-period accelerometer monitoring shows the role of physical activity in overweight and obesity

Abstract

CONTEXT: Physical activity (PA) plays an important role in obesity. A new accelerometer has been developed to assess total energy expenditure as well as PA. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of PA with overweight and obesity in Japanese men and women, a large crosssectional study was performed using a single-axis accelerometer. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Population-based cross-sectional study of Japanese 18-84 y of age. Height, body weight and PA were measured in 400 male and 388 female Japanese volunteers from 1999 to 2000. The outcome measurements were overweight and obesity, which are defined as a body mass index Z25 kg/m 2 . PA was measured for 1 to 4 weeks and was then categorized into three activity levels, which were defined as light, moderate and vigorous PA. RESULTS: Prevalence of overweight and obesity was 22.3%. Number of steps and time spent in moderate and vigorous PA per day were lower in overweight and obese individuals. No difference was found in time spent in light PA. Individuals who are in the 4th and 5th quintile of moderate and vigorous PA showed a significantly lower body mass index. When odd ratios (ORs) of overweight and obesity estimated by logistic regression were used as effect measures, overweight and obesity were negatively associated with vigorous PA (ORs ¼ 0.91). CONCLUSION: These results indicate that overweight and obese individuals have a lower step rate and are spending less time for moderate to vigorous PA. Participation in vigorous PA is an important predictor of overweight and obesity.

Habitual physical activity in daily life correlates positively with markers for mitochondrial capacity

“…These proportions are close to those recently reported in other studies that used accelerometry in healthy young adults (7,35). McClain et al (20), on the other hand, recruited regular endurance runners and although %Moderate was similar in their study (27 min/ day), %High was more pronounced (48 min/day) compared with the present population.…”

Gene × environment interaction of vigorous exercise and body mass index among male Vietnam-era twins

“…Several population-based studies found a cross-sectional association between higher levels of self-reported physical activity and lower BMI (13)(14)(15)(16). Research further suggests that time spent performing vigorous aerobic activities may be especially important for reducing the likelihood of being overweight or obese (15,(17)(18)(19)(20).…”

Accelerometer-determined Physical Activity Level in Adults with Abdominal Obesity

“…This higher energy expenditure can be explained by the signiˆcantly higher resting metabolic rates in obese individuals as compared with those in normal-weight individuals (Riggs et al, 2007). Obese individuals also carry a heavier load, which requires more energy and therefore their energy expenditure may be higher (Yoshioka et al, 2005).…”