Body Mass, DRD4, Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Family Socioeconomic Status: The Add Health Study*

Aims: This study investigates associations between the combined physical activity environment and obesity and explores any sub-group effects by individual-level socioeconomic status. Methods: In a large cross-sectional cohort ( n = 22,889) from the Yorkshire Health Study, body mass index was calculated using self-reported height and weight and obesity was defined as a body mass index ≥ 30. The physical activity environment was split into ‘unfavourable physical activity’, ‘moderately favourable physical activity’ and ‘favourable physical activity’ environments. This was based on the count of parks and physical activity facilities within a 2 km radial buffer centred on home addresses. A favourable physical activity environment was defined as having ≥1 physical activity facility and ≥1 park, unfavourable as having no physical activity facility and park and any other combinations defined as moderately favourable. Logistic regression (odds ratios) identified associations with obesity. Results: Relative to ‘unfavourable physical activity environments’, individuals within favourable physical activity environments were less likely to be obese (odds ratio = 0.90; 95% confidence interval = 0.82–0.97), and there was no effect for moderately favourable environment. Furthermore, once stratified by education level, this relationship was only present for those of higher education. Conclusion: Our findings provide novel UK evidence and is one of the first papers internationally that highlights the importance of considering the interplay of individual-level socioeconomic factors when investigating associations between the physical activity environment and obesity.

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Effect of Children’s Weight Status on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior during Physical Education, Recess, and After School

Journal of Clinical Medicine ◽

10.3390/jcm9082651 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (8) ◽

pp. 2651

Author(s):

Zachary C. Pope ◽

Charles Huang ◽

David Stodden ◽

Daniel J. McDonough ◽

Zan Gao

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Body Mass Index ◽

Elementary School ◽

Physical Education ◽

Sedentary Behavior ◽

Body Mass ◽

Weight Status ◽

After School ◽

Healthy Weight

Children’s body mass index may affect physical activity (PA) participation. Therefore, this study examined the effect of children’s weight status on underserved elementary school children’s PA and sedentary behavior (SB) throughout the segmented day. Participants were 138 children (X¯age = 8.14 years). Children’s height and weight were measured with subsequent classification of children as healthy weight or overweight/obese. Durations of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), light PA (LPA), and SB during physical education (PE), morning recess, lunch recess, after school, and overall were assessed via accelerometry over three days. Independent t-tests evaluated differences in children’s MVPA, LPA, and SB during each daily segment by weight status. Significantly higher MVPA was observed for children of healthy weight status versus children with overweight/obesity during morning recess, t(136) = 2.15, p = 0.03, after school, t(136) = 2.68, p < 0.01, and overall, t(136) = 2.65, p < 0.01. Interestingly, comparisons of children of healthy weight status and children with overweight/obesity’s LPA and SB during the after-school segment revealed a trend wherein children with overweight/obesity participated in slightly greater LPA/less SB than children of healthy weight status. Higher MVPA was observed among children of healthy weight versus children with overweight/obesity during most daily segments. Concerted efforts should focus on increasing MVPA among children with overweight/obesity.

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Exploring Potential Mediation Pathways on the Relationship Between Acculturation and Body Mass Index (BMI) Among Latino Adolescents

Hispanic Health Care International ◽

10.1177/15404153211029893 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 154041532110298

Author(s):

Christopher Johansen ◽

Kim D. Reynolds ◽

Bin Xie ◽

Paula Palmer

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Body Mass Index ◽

Sedentary Behavior ◽

Body Mass ◽

Self Report ◽

Latino Adolescents ◽

Future Research ◽

Public High Schools ◽

Multiple Mediation ◽

The Relationship

Background: Positive associations have been observed between acculturation and body mass index (BMI), but the mediators of this relationship are not well established. Acculturation researchers have called for investigating the influence of socio-contextual variables as mediators. The objective of this study was to test the mediating effects of salty snacks, sweet snacks, physical activity, and sedentary behavior on the relationship between acculturation and BMI among Latino adolescents. Methods: Adolescents who self-identified as Latino ( n = 431) at public high schools in Southern California were recruited and completed a self-report survey. A bootstrapped multiple mediation model was used to test mediation pathways. Results: Acculturation was positively associated with physical activity ( B = 0.09, p < .05). The indirect effects of salty snacks, sweet snacks, physical activity, and sedentary behavior were not associated with BMI, suggesting no mediation. Conclusions: Future research should examine additional mediating variables on the relationship between acculturation and BMI.

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Physical activity, sedentary behavior, and incidence of obstructive sleep apnea in three prospective US cohorts

European Respiratory Journal ◽

10.1183/13993003.00606-2021 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 2100606

Author(s):

Yue Liu ◽

Lin Yang ◽

Meir J. Stampfer ◽

Susan Redline ◽

Shelley S. Tworoger ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Obstructive Sleep Apnea ◽

Sleep Apnea ◽

Sedentary Behavior ◽

Sitting Time ◽

Health Study ◽

Metabolic Factors ◽

Obstructive Sleep ◽

Watching Tv

Reduced physical activity and increased sedentary behavior may independently contribute to development of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) through increased adiposity, inflammation, insulin resistance and body fluid retention. However, epidemiologic evidence remains sparse, and is primarily limited to cross-sectional studies.We prospectively followed 50 332 women from the Nurses’ Health Study (2002–2012), 68 265 women from the Nurses’ Health Study II (1995–2013), and 19 320 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (1996–2012). Recreational physical activity (quantified by metabolic equivalent of task [MET]-hours/week) and sitting time spent watching TV and at work/away from home were assessed by questionnaires every 2–4 years. Physician-diagnosed OSA was identified by validated self-report. Cox models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for OSA incidence associated with physical activity and sedentary behavior.During 2 004 663 person-years of follow-up, we documented 8733 incident OSA cases. After adjusting for potential confounders, the pooled HR for OSA comparing participants with ≥36.0 versus <6.0 MET-hours/week of physical activity was 0.46 (95% CI: 0.43, 0.50; ptrend<0.001). Compared with participants spending <4.0 h/week sitting watching TV, the multivariable-adjusted HR (95% CI) was 1.78 (1.60, 1.98) for participants spending ≥28.0 h/week (ptrend<0.001). The comparable HR (95% CI) was 1.49 (1.38, 1.62) for sitting hours at work/away from home (ptrend<0.001). With additional adjustment for several metabolic factors including BMI and waist circumference, the associations with physical activity and sitting hours at work/away from home were attenuated but remained significant (ptrend<0.001), whereas the association with sitting hours watching TV was no longer statistically significant (ptrend=0.18).Higher levels of physical activity and fewer sedentary hours were associated with lower OSA incidence. The potential mediating role of metabolic factors in the association between sedentary behavior and OSA incidence may depend on type of sedentary behavior. Our results suggest that promoting an active lifestyle may reduce OSA incidence.

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Excess Body Mass and Leisure Time Physical Activity in the Incidence and Persistence of Chronic Pain

Pain Medicine ◽

10.1093/pm/pnaa102 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 21 (11) ◽

pp. 3094-3101

Author(s):

Rahman Shiri ◽

Tea Lallukka ◽

Ossi Rahkonen ◽

Päivi Leino-Arjas

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Chronic Pain ◽

Body Mass ◽

Leisure Time ◽

Leisure Time Physical Activity ◽

The Body ◽

Health Study ◽

Highly Active ◽

The City

Abstract Objective To estimate the effects of excess body mass and leisure time physical activity on the incidence and persistence of chronic pain. Design A prospective cohort study. Methods As a part of the Finnish Helsinki Health Study, we included three cohorts of employees of the City of Helsinki (18,562 observations) and defined incident chronic pain as having pain in any part of the body for more than three months at follow-up in participants without chronic pain at baseline (N = 13,029 observations). Persistent chronic pain was defined as having pain for more than three months at both baseline and follow-up (N = 5,533 observations). Results Overweight (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.18, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.06–1.31) and obesity (OR = 1.65, 95% CI = 1.45–1.88) increased the incidence of chronic pain. Moreover, overweight (OR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.02–1.32) and obesity (OR = 1.48, 95% CI = 1.26–1.74) increased the risk of persistent chronic pain. Vigorous leisure time physical activity reduced the incidence of chronic pain (OR = 0.85, 95% CI = 0.75–0.96). Physical activity did not influence the risk of persistent chronic pain. Furthermore, overweight/obesity modified the effect of leisure time physical activity on incident chronic pain. Inactive overweight or obese participants were at the highest risk of chronic pain (OR = 1.71, 95% CI = 1.40–2.09), while the OR dropped to 1.44 (95% CI = 1.19–1.75) in moderately active overweight or obese participants and to 1.20 (95% CI = 0.97–1.47) in highly active overweight or obese participants. Conclusions Obesity not only increases the risk of developing chronic pain, but also increases the risk of persistent pain, while leisure time physical activity reduces the risk of developing chronic pain.

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Effects of Body Mass Index (BMI), demographic and socioeconomic factors on organized physical activity (OPA) participation in children aged 6-15 years: a cross-sectional study comparing primary and secondary school children in Greece

BMC Pediatrics ◽

10.1186/s12887-020-02276-6 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Vilelmine Carayanni ◽

Elpis Vlachopadopoulou ◽

Dimitra Koutsouki ◽

Gregory C. Bogdanis ◽

Theodora Psaltopoulou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Body Mass Index ◽

Socioeconomic Status ◽

Secondary School ◽

Socioeconomic Factors ◽

Body Mass ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Primary And Secondary School

Abstract Background The aim of the present study was to examine the influence of body mass index category, as well as of demographic and socioeconomic factors on the participation in organized physical activity (OPA) of schoolchildren attending primary and secondary school in Greece. Furthermore, to compare the difference between the two levels. Methods This is a cross-sectional study conducted on a representative elementary and secondary school cohort, derived using stratification and probability proportional to size (PPS) methodology. The final sample included 18,264 subjects, aged 6 to 15 years. Parents of all students and students of secondary schools fulfilled validated questionnaires evaluating socioeconomic status, and participation to OPA. International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) cut offs were used to classify the children. Univariate and multivariate logistic models examined factors associated with OPA. All analyses were stratified by school level. Results Sport participation was not reported in 37.7 and 54.4% of primary and secondary schoolchildren respectively. Having BMI within normal range, being male, having parents participating in an organized activity and a high socio-economic status seem to encourage participation in OPA in both school levels. Conclusions Children with normal BMI are more likely to participate in OPA. Parents as role model as well as higher socioeconomic status of the family emerge as important influencers. Participation in OPA declines as students enter secondary school. Interventions focusing on increasing physical education and activity into school daily program should be tailored to the specific needs of different weight categories and can possibly eliminate the impact of SES inequalities.

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