Impact of exercise changes on body composition during the college years - a five year randomized controlled study

Abstract

BackgroundObservational studies have consistently reported severe weight gains during the college years; information about the effect on body composition is scarce, however. Thus, the aim of the study was to determine the effect of exercise changes on body composition during 5 years at university.MethodsSixty-one randomly selected male and female dental (DES; 21 ± 3 years., 22 ± 2 kg/m2) and 53 sport (physical education) students (SPS; 20 ± 2 years., 22 ± 3 kg/m2) were accompanied over their 5-year study program. Body mass and body composition as determined via Dual-Energy x-ray-absorptiometry (DXA) at baseline and follow-up were selected as primary study endpoints. Confounding parameters (i.e., nutritional intake, diseases, medication) that may affect study endpoints were determined every two years. Endpoints were log-transformed to stabilize variance and achieve normal distributed values. Paired t-tests and unpaired Welch-t-tests were used to check intra and inter-group differences.ResultsExercise volume decreased significantly by 33 % (p < .001) in the DES and increased significantly (p < .001) in the SPS group. Both cohorts comparably (p = .214) gained body mass (SPS: 1.9 %, 95 %-CI: 0.3−3.5 %, p = .019 vs. DES: 3.4 %, 1.4−5.5 %, p = .001). However, the increase in the SPS group can be completely attributed to changes in LBM (2.3 %, 1.1−3.5 %, p < 0.001) with no changes of total fat mass (0.6 %, −5.0−6.5 %, p = 0.823), while DES gained total FM and LBM in a proportion of 2:1. Corresponding changes were determined for appendicular skeletal muscle mass and abdominal body-fat. Maximum aerobic capacity increased (p = .076) in the SPS (1.6 %, −0.2−3.3 %) and significantly decreased (p = .004) in the DES (−3.3 %, −5.4 to −1.2 %). Group differences were significant (p < .001). With respect to nutritional intake or physical activity, no relevant changes or group differences were observed.ConclusionWe conclude that the most deleterious effect on fatness and fitness in young college students was the pronounced decreases in exercise volume and particularly exercise intensity.Trial registration NCT00521235; “Effect of Different Working Conditions on Risk Factors in Dentists Versus Trainers. A Combined Cross sectional and Longitudinal Trial with Student and Senior Employees.”; August 24, 2007.

Sports activity as a factor differentiating the level of somatic constitution and physical fitness of officer cadets at the Military Academy of Land Forces

“…statistically significant differences in this area occur not earlier than after two years of intensive sport training [14]. However, the research shown here confirms regularities observed by Kemmler et al [17]. The researchers have proved that undertaking vigorous physical activity is essential for the body mass index of tested individuals.…”

“…In many studies, there were relevant dependences observed between sports activity and physical fitness [15,16]. A very important research topic seems to be the time for sports activity, which, according to many researchers, determines changes of the morphological characteristics and physical fitness [17]. sport and physical activity is an important and compulsory part for the people who connect their lives with the military system.…”

Physical Activity and Associated Energy Intake in Undergraduate College Students

“…A study by Colby et al (2017) detected an inverse relationship between BMI and physical activity. The differences in results seen in the study by Kemmler et. al (2016) may be due to the two groups of students studied.…”

“…Analogous to the previous study by Strohacker et al (2015), all participants in this research study by Gu et al (2015) were female, and thus a similar study should be conducted with both male and female participants before these results can be generalized to the entire college student population. Kemmler, von Stengel, Kohl, & Bauer (2016) determined that physical activity did not decrease during college, but exercise (which was defined within the research study as individual or group sports) did decline in both students studying dentistry as well as students studying physical education when compared to other majors. However, this same research study also noted that dental students gained twice as much fat as lean body mass, whereas physical education students gained solely lean body mass during this same timeframe.…”

“…However, this same research study also noted that dental students gained twice as much fat as lean body mass, whereas physical education students gained solely lean body mass during this same timeframe. Decreased exercise volume and intensity were found to be the biggest factors in the loss of fitness and corresponding fat gain in dental students (Kemmler et al, 2016). A study by Colby et al (2017) detected an inverse relationship between BMI and physical activity.…”