Physical Activity and Sedentary Patterns among Metabolically Healthy Individuals Living with Obesity

Some individuals living with obesity are free from typical cardiometabolic risk factors and are termed metabolically healthy obese (MHO). The patterns of physical activity and sedentary behaviors among MHO are currently unknown.

This study includes 414 youth (12-18 years old), 802 adults (19-44 years old), and 1230 older adults (45-85 years old) living with obesity from the 2003-2004 or 2005-2006 NHANES cycles. Time spent in bouts of 1, 5, 10, 30, and 60 minutes for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary time was measured objectively using accelerometers. Participants were categorized as MHO if they had no cardiometabolic risk factors above the identified thresholds (triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and glucose).

The proportion of MHO was 19%, 14%, and 12% in youth, adults, and older adults, respectively. MHO adults displayed a higher 1-minute bout of MVPA per day compared to non-MHO (p = 0.02), but no difference was observed for MVPA and sedentary behavior patterns for youth and older adults. When adjusted for confounders, all bouts of sedentary behavior patterns in youth were significantly associated with being classified as MHO.

This study suggests that greater sedentary time is associated with cardiometabolic risk factors in youth even if they are physically active.