Body fat related to daily physical activity and insulin concentrations in non‐diabetic children

Abstract

1 SummaryThis study explored the associations between body fat versus daily physical activity and insulin concentrations in non-diabetic young children in a Cross-sectional study of 172 children (93 boys and 79 girls) aged 8 to 11 years. Blood samples were analysed for serum insulin and daily physical activity was measured by accelerometers. Time spent performing vigorous activity was estimated from accelerometer data by using established cut off points. Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was used to quantify abdominal fat mass (AFM) and total body fat (TBF), also calculated as percentage of body weight (BF%). Body fat distribution was calculated as AFM/TBF. Body fat distribution was independently linked to both insulin concentrations and physical activity. In contrast, TBF, AFM and BF% were linked to physical activity only and not to insulin concentrations. In conclusion in this population of non-diabetic children, body fat distribution was independently associated with increased concentrations of insulin and deceased amount of vigorous activity per day. Also, AFM, TBF, and BF% were independently related to minutes of vigorous activity per day.2

Personal and social‐environmental correlates of objectively measured physical activity in Norwegian pre‐adolescent children

“…We found that being normal weight was associated with a higher % daily MVPA compared with being overweight/obese. Our result is in line with the findings for BMI and % body fat in other studies in which children's physical activity is assessed by accelerometers (Trost et al, 2001; Adkins et al, 2004; Dencker et al, 2008). The result could imply that being overweight/obese might be a barrier for engaging in physical activity when entering adolescence.…”

“…There is no conclusive evidence for an association between body composition measures and children's physical activity in reviews (Sallis et al, 2000;van der Horst et al, 2007), but some studies with acceler-ometer-assessed physical activity have shown that a higher body mass index (BMI) and percent body fat is associated with less physical activity (Adkins et al, 2004;Dencker et al, 2008). In studies examining correlates using objective measures of physical activity, self-efficacy has been identified as a psychological correlate in children (Trost et al, 1999;Strauss et al, 2001;Dishman et al, 2009).…”

Body mass index associated with elevated blood pressure in Mexican school-aged adolescents

“…However, our study period was short and involved physiological changes in body size consequently, further evaluation is required. These results were independent of factors that have been associated with high blood pressure, such as tobacco consumption (Shah et al, 2001), puberty (Shankar et al, 2005), physical activity (Dencker et al, 2008), and height (a variable reflecting an adjustment for ethnic variations) (Chiolero et al, 2007a). Still, our study has limitations, such as not having included other life history variables such as birth weight and diet, and in particular salt consumption (He et al, 2008), which has been shown to be involved in increased blood pressure in children and adolescents (Chiolero et al, 2007a).…”

Associations of Objectively Measured Vigorous Physical Activity With Body Composition, Cardiorespiratory Fitness, and Cardiometabolic Health in Youth: A Review

“…Geographical locations varied across the studies with 7 conducted in the United States, 16-22 4 in Canada, 23-26 and 33 in Europe. 27-57 One study was conducted internationally 7 and the final study did not specify location. 58 Sample sizes varied considerably ranging from 36 to 6539 participants.…”