The association between physical activity and body fat percentage with adjustment for body mass index among middle-aged adults: China health and nutrition survey in 2015
Qinpei Zou, Chang Su, Wenwen Du, Yifei Ouyang, Huijun Wang, Zhihong Wang, Gangqiang Ding, Bing Zhang
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The inverse association between physical activity and body fat percentage (%) varies among different populations. We aim to examine whether the significant association between them was uniform across the subpopulations after taking into account body mass index (BMI). METHODS: was overweight/obese. The effects of physical activity on body fat% were estimated using the Kruskal-Wallis test among sex, age, BMI groups, education, income, region and urbanization. Quantile regression analyses were utilized to describe the relationship between physical activity and body fat% distribution. RESULTS: Older adults, overweight/obese, higher education, higher income, residents of central China and those living in areas of higher urbanization had the lower physical activity. Participants who engaged in the highest level of physical activity had 2.0 and 1.5% lower body fat% than the lowest level of physical activity group (23.4, 34.8%) for men and women, respectively. There were 10.4 and 8.8% of normal weight males and females called normal weight obese. Overall, 1 h extra 4.5 MET•h/d was significantly associated with 0.079 and 0.110% less total body fat% at the 75th and 90th percentiles in normal weight males, with 0.071% less at the 25th percentiles in overweight/obese males, with 0.046-0.098% less at the 25th to 90th percentiles in normal weight females, and with 0.035-0.037% less from the 50th to 90th percentiles in overweight/obese females. The inverse association between physical activity and total body fat% was stronger in normal weight obese participants than other subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: In middle-aged Chinese adults, the inverse association between physical activity and body fat% was only in particular subpopulations rather than the entire population. We should pay much attention to normal weight obese and give a suitable physical activity guideline taking into account people with different body fat%.