Association of daily sitting time and leisure-time physical activity with body fat among U.S. adults

Jingwen Liao; Min Hu; Kellie Imm; Clifton J Holmes; Jie Zhu; Chao Cao; Lin Yang

doi:10.1016/j.jshs.2022.10.001

Association of daily sitting time and leisure-time physical activity with body fat among U.S. adults

J Sport Health Sci. 2024 Mar;13(2):195-203. doi: 10.1016/j.jshs.2022.10.001. Epub 2022 Oct 12.

Authors

Jingwen Liao¹, Min Hu², Kellie Imm³, Clifton J Holmes⁴, Jie Zhu⁵, Chao Cao⁴, Lin Yang⁶

Affiliations

¹ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Physical Activity and Health Promotion, Guangzhou Sport University, Guangzhou 510500, China; Scientific Research Center, Guangzhou Sport University, Guangzhou 510500, China. Electronic address: liaojw@gzsport.edu.cn.
² Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Physical Activity and Health Promotion, Guangzhou Sport University, Guangzhou 510500, China.
³ Division of Epidemiology & Genetics, Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.
⁴ Program in Physical Therapy, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Center for Human Nutrition, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
⁵ Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Shanghai East Hospital, Tongji University, Shanghai 200070, China.
⁶ Department of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Research, Alberta Health Services, Calgary T2S 3C3, Canada; Department of Oncology and Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary T2N 1N4, Canada.

Abstract

Background: Prolonged sitting and reduced physical activity lead to low energy expenditures. However, little is known about the joint impact of daily sitting time and physical activity on body fat distribution. We investigated the independent and joint associations of daily sitting time and physical activity with body fat among adults.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional analysis of U.S. nationally representative data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011-2018 among adults aged 20 years or older. Daily sitting time and leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) were self-reported using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire. Body fat (total and trunk fat percentage) was determined via dual X-ray absorptiometry.

Results: Among 10,808 adults, about 54.6% spent 6 h/day or more sitting; more than one-half reported no LTPA (inactive) or less than 150 min/week LTPA (insufficiently active) with only 43.3% reported 150 min/week or more LTPA (active) in the past week. After fully adjusting for sociodemographic data, lifestyle behaviors, and chronic conditions, prolonged sitting time and low levels of LTPA were associated with higher total and trunk fat percentages in both sexes. When stratifying by LTPA, the association between daily sitting time and body fat appeared to be stronger in those who were inactive/insufficiently active. In the joint analyses, inactive/insufficiently active adults who reported sitting more than 8 h/day had the highest total (female: 3.99% (95% confidence interval (95%CI): 3.09%-4.88%); male: 3.79% (95%CI: 2.75%-4.82%)) and trunk body fat percentages (female: 4.21% (95%CI: 3.09%-5.32%); male: 4.07% (95%CI: 2.95%-5.19%)) when compared with those who were active and sitting less than 4 h/day.

Conclusion: Prolonged daily sitting time was associated with increased body fat among U.S. adults. The higher body fat associated with 6 h/day sitting may not be offset by achieving recommended levels of physical activity.

Keywords: Adults; Body fat distribution; Physical activity; Sitting time.

MeSH terms

Adipose Tissue
Adult
Cross-Sectional Studies
Exercise
Female
Humans
Leisure Activities*
Male
Nutrition Surveys
Sitting Position*