Combined Effect of Leisure-Time Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior on Abdominal Obesity in ELSA-Brasil Participants

Maiara do Espírito Santo Cerqueira de Araújo; Maria da Conceição Chagas de Almeida; Sheila Maria Alvim Matos; Maria de Jesus Mendes da Fonseca; Cristiano Penas Seara Pitanga; Francisco José Gondim Pitanga

doi:10.3390/ijerph20156501

Combined Effect of Leisure-Time Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior on Abdominal Obesity in ELSA-Brasil Participants

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Aug 2;20(15):6501. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20156501.

Authors

Maiara do Espírito Santo Cerqueira de Araújo¹, Maria da Conceição Chagas de Almeida², Sheila Maria Alvim Matos³, Maria de Jesus Mendes da Fonseca⁴, Cristiano Penas Seara Pitanga⁵, Francisco José Gondim Pitanga¹

Affiliations

¹ Postgraduate Program in Rehabilitation Sciences, Multidisciplinary Institute for Rehabilitation and Health, Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), Salvador 40110-170, BA, Brazil.
² Gonçalo Moniz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Salvador 40296-710, BA, Brazil.
³ Institute of Collective Health, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador 40110-040, BA, Brazil.
⁴ National School of Public Health, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro 21041-210, RJ, Brazil.
⁵ Department of Physical Education, Catholic University of Salvador (UCSAL), Salvador 41740-090, BA, Brazil.

Abstract

Introduction: Abdominal obesity is a pattern of obesity that has been considered a public health problem. Physical activity is considered an important factor for the prevention of abdominal obesity. Increased time in sedentary behavior has been associated with negative health outcomes, including abdominal obesity.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate which combination of leisure-time physical activity and sedentary behavior contributes most to the prevention of abdominal obesity in adults participating in ELSA-Brasil (Longitudinal Study of Adult Health).

Methods: The study was cross-sectional and participants from the first follow-up of the ELSA-Brasil cohort (2012-2014) were analyzed. The independent variables were physical activity, assessed by IPAQ, and sedentary behavior, assessed by a standard questionnaire applied in ELSA-Brasil; the dependent variable was abdominal obesity, determined by waist circumference. The covariates analyzed were the following: age, education, binge drinking, smoking and menopause. The associations between the dependent variable and the independent variables were analyzed using logistic regression. The odds ratio with 95 CI% was estimated.

Results: For men, the combinations were more significant when they were more physically active and spent less time on the sedentary behaviors analyzed, on both a weekday and a weekend day. For menopausal women, both younger and older, all associations of the combinations between sufficient leisure-time physical activity and little time spent in sedentary behaviors contributed to the prevention of abdominal obesity. In non-menopausal women, positive associations were observed in almost all combinations between leisure-time physical activity and sedentary behaviors, with some results that were not statistically significant among younger women.

Conclusions: Our results showed that being sufficiently active and reducing the time spent in sedentary behavior was the combination that contributed the most to the prevention of abdominal obesity, both in men and women.

Keywords: abdominal obesity; adults; health; physical activity; sedentary behavior.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Cross-Sectional Studies
Exercise
Female
Humans
Leisure Activities
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Obesity
Obesity, Abdominal* / epidemiology
Sedentary Behavior*

Grants and funding

The baseline study of ELSA-Brasil was supported by the Ministry of Health (Department of Science and Technology) and the Ministry of Science and Technology of Brazil (Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos and Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa CNPq; grants 01 06 0010.00 RS, 01 06 0212.00BA, 01 06 0300.00 ES, 01 06 0278.00 MG, 01 06 0115.00SP and 01 06 0071.00 RJ).