The Associations of Weekend Warrior Activity Patterns With the Visceral Adiposity Index in US Adults: Repeated Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Background According to previous reports, obesity especially visceral fat has become an important public health problem, causing an estimation of 20.5 disability-adjusted life years per 1000 inhabitants. Those who exercised for 1 or 2 days per week and reached the recommended 150 minutes of moderate physical activity (PA) per week have been defined as “weekend warriors” (WWs). Although the benefits of PA in suppressing obesity have been widely studied, the association of WWs with the Visceral Adiposity Index (VAI) and the difference between WW activity and regular PA are yet to be explored. Objective This study aims to explore the association between WW activity and other PA patterns with VAI in US adults. Methods The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007-2016 data set was used, and the analytic sample was limited to adults 20 years and older who had complete information about VAI, PA patterns, and other covariates, including demographic characteristics, behavioral factors, and disease conditions. Participants’ characteristics in different PA pattern groups were tested using the Rao and Scott adjusted χ2 test and ANOVA. Univariate and multivariate stepped linear regression models were then used to explore the association between the PA pattern and VAI. Finally, stratified analyses and interaction effects were conducted to investigate whether the association was stable among subgroups. Results The final sample included 9642 adults 20 years or older, which is representative of 158.1 million noninstitutionalized US adults, with 52.15% (n=5169) being male and 70.8% (n=4443) being non-Hispanic White. Gender, age group, race, education level, income level, marital status, smoking status, alcoholism, VAI, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes were all correlated with the PA pattern, but no relationship between hypertension and PA pattern was observed. After adjusting for demographic covariates, smoking status, alcoholism, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and hypertension, WW and regularly active adults had a β of .307 (95% CI –0.611 to –0.003) and .354 (95% CI –0.467 to –0.241), respectively, for reduced VAI when compared with inactive adults, but no significant effect of lowering VAI (β=–.132, 95% CI –0.282 to 0.018) was observed in insufficiently active adults when compared with inactive adults. Besides, no significant difference was exhibited between WW adults and regularly active adults (β=.047, 95% CI –0.258 to 0.352), suggesting WW adults had the same benefit of decreasing VAI as regularly active adults. Stratified analyses results exhibited that WW activity was related to reduced VAI in female adults aged 20-44 years who were non-Hispanic Black, other, or multiracial; high school or General Educational Development education; and never married, and the association between PA pattern and VAI remained stable in all demographic subgroups. Conclusions Compared with inactive adults, WWs could reduce VAI, and there was no significant difference between WWs and regular active adults in decreasing VAI. Our study provides compelling evidence of the beneficial effect of WW activity on visceral obesity.

Association of habitual physical activity with depression and anxiety: a multicentre cross-sectional study

“…A systematic review and meta-analysis with 15 cohort studies showed similar protective effects and that the maximum benefit was obtained from those meeting the recommended guidelines by either moderate or vigorous-intensity activities 26. Recently, a cross-sectional study from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) also revealed the protective effect of physical activity against depression 34. Additionally, several epidemiological studies among the Chinese also revealed a similar beneficial role of physical activity in decreasing depression risk,35–38 while sedentary behaviour was positively associated with depression in a dose-response manner 39.…”

The associations of “weekend warrior” and regularly active physical activity with abdominal and general adiposity in US adults

“…Scarce literature has discussed whether the effects of reducing fat in WW differ from those in RA. Only one study, to our knowledge, has assessed the association between PA patterns and VAI and found a similarly lower VAI between WW and RA [10]. However, the VAI is a surrogate marker for VAT dysfunction and is calculated based on blood lipids and anthropometric parameters [27], which cannot directly reflect other adipose tissues, such as abdomen and whole‐body fat assessed by DXA.…”

Association of anxiety, depression symptoms and sleep quality with chronic kidney disease among older Chinese

“…First, participants with anxiety, depression symptoms and poor sleep quality may experience great stress during their life, [27][28][29][30] and then result in the activation of sympathetic excitation, which was associated with the occurrence of CKD. Second, participants with these problems may cause endocrine disruption and changes in hormone levels, [31][32][33] which was associated with CKD.…”