Self‐reported physical activity during leisure time was favourably associated with body composition in Norwegian adolescents

Abstract

Aim: We studied the cross-sectional association between self-reported physical activity and body composition in adolescents. Methods: The Norwegian Fit Futures Cohort Study was conducted in the Tromsø andBalsfjord municipalities during 2010-2011. All 1,117 students in their first year of upper secondary high school were invited to attend an examination at the Clinical Research Unit at the University Hospital of Northern Norway and 93% agreed. After exclusions, we analysed 945 participants (51% boys) with a mean age of 16.1 years (range 15.5-17.5 years) with valid measurements. The associations between self-reported weekly hours of physical activity during leisure time and four measures of body composition were explored using linear regression.Results: Self-reported physical activity was significantly associated with the fat mass index (p < 0.03) and lean mass index (p < 0.001) in both genders. The lean mass index increased with higher levels of activity and the fat mass index decreased. Physical activity was not associated with body mass index for either gender, but there was an inverse association with waist circumference in girls (p = 0.04). Conclusion: Physical activity was favourably associated with body composition inNorwegian adolescents and showed contrasting associations with the fat mass and lean mass indexes.

Body Fat Mediates Association between Active Living and Health among Adolescents

“…In addition, high-intensity physical activity may not lead to overall weight loss, but it may be associated with an increase in lean mass, instead of fat mass, as well as changes in body fat distribution [ 22 ]. Previous studies on adolescents have found that higher levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity or organized sport activities are associated with lower body fat percentages [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ]. Based on these studies, we decided to take a closer look at how sufficient physical activity might be associated with health indirectly through objectively measured body fat among adolescents.…”

Association between objectively measured physical activity and longitudinal changes in body composition in adolescents: the Tromsø study fit futures cohort

“…All analyses were performed sex specific as decided a priori, using STATA V. 14 Patient and public involvement Participating schools were consulted and included in the design phase of the study. Table 1 displays the participants' body composition measurements at baseline and follow-up as well as physical activity measurements at baseline.…”

“…13 Body composition is most commonly assessed using BMI, but BMI does not distinguish between fat and muscle mass. 14 This has the potential to cause misclassification of overweight status and may attenuate a true association between physical activity and fat or muscle mass. Thus, in the current study, we sought to overcome these limitations by applying objective measures of both physical activity and specific measures of body composition.…”