Correlation of Body Mass Index and Physical Activity Among 7- to 11-Year Children at Zahedan, Iran

Abstract

Background: Childhood obesity is currently one of the major concerns in pediatric field. In recent literature, correlation of obesity with some behavioral factors such as physical activity (PA) received attention. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and PA. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in 2012 on 548 randomly selected 7-to 11-year schoolchildren from Zahedan, Iran. The underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obesity status were all based on BMI percentiles for age and sex. Moderate to vigorous PA during the previous 7 days was assessed by a modified version of the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children. Results: The prevalence of underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obesity among the participants was 18.3%, 47.9%, 11.8%, and 22.1%, respectively. Overweight and obesity were significantly higher among girls than boys. Mean PA score in participants was 2.4 + 0.5. The results showed the PA score was significantly higher among boys than girls. The PA score had a significant association with BMI (P ¼ .018), and it was greater in normal participants than in obese participants. Conclusion: On the basis of observed data and due to the impact of PA on BMI as an indicator of nutritional status and health, teaching children to have better nutrition and lifestyle changes is very important. Therefore, more studies should focus on childhood obesity prevention programs to prevent nonoverweight children from becoming overweight or obese in the future.

Physical Activity Correlates to Body Mass Index among Medical Students

“…In contrast, a study by Keykhaei et al showed that there was a significant relationship between BMI (p= .018) and PA score in normal BMI participants compared to those with obesity. However, the PA score had no significant difference in underweight and overweight participants (19). Unique to our finding is that participants with lower BMI are likely to have a low level of activity.…”

“…Female participants were more inactive than males in our study might be due to some reasons. For examples, limited sports facilities for female, cultural factors and traditional beliefs, religious factors, and TV programs and magazines that are more attractive for female (19). Sports facilities center like the gym around our neighborhood (Semarang) was still dominated by males.…”

Nivel de actividad física autoinformado en escolares que realizan educación física: una revisión sistemática

“…Most studies in Asian countries indicated a sedentary lifestyle in schoolchildren found in seven of the eight studies (Chan et al, 2019;Firouzi et al, 2014;Guo & Wang, 2017;Jan Mohamed et al, 2015;Keykhaei et al, 2016;Rostami-Moez et al, 2017;Thien et al, 2015). This trend of lower levels of PA in the Asian continent (especially in the South) has been previously reported in the scientific literature (Guthold et al, 2018).…”

“…On the other hand, depending on the continent analyzed, most studies with their means of levels considered sedentary were found in Asia, with this fact observed in seven of the eight studies found (87.5%) (Chan et al, 2019;Firouzi et al, 2014;Guo & Wang, 2017;Jan Mohamed et al, 2015;Keykhaei et al, 2016;Rostami-Moez et al, 2017;Thien et al, 2015). In America, it was similar in two of the six studies (33.3%); one in North America (Brown et al, 2018) and another in South America (Silva & Cavalcante Neto, 2017).…”

“…Table 3 shows the characteristics of the studies found during the searching, including author/s, year of publication, sample size and age, and the results on the level of selfreported PA; both globally, and stratified by gender or body status, whenever possible. In total, we included 23 studies in the review: eight in Europe (four from Spain, three from England and one from Switzerland) (Arriscado et al, 2015;Benítez-Porres et al, 2016a, 2016bGarcía-Cervantes et al, 2016;Sandercock & Cohen, 2019;Schmidt et al, 2017;Voss et al, 2014); eight in Asia (three in Iran, three in Malaysia and two in China) (Chan et al, 2019;Firouzi et al, 2014;Guo & Wang, 2017;Jan Mohamed et al, 2015;Keykhaei et al, 2016;Khodaverdi & Bahram, 2015;Rostami-Moez et al, 2017;Thien et al, 2015); six in America (three in Canada, one in the US, one in Brazil and one in Nicaragua) (Brown et al, 2018;Silva & Cavalcante Neto, 2017;Ferland et al, 2015;Khan et al, 2015;Reyes Ortiz et al, 2018;Voss et al, 2014); and one in Africa (Mauritius) (Bundhun et al, 2018). However, the cross-cultural study by Voss et al (2014) was carried out in both America (Canada) and Europe (England); including the results of two samples in the same research work.…”