Association of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity with neck circumference in eight Latin American countries

Physical activity is a cornerstone in the prevention and treatment of obesity. There are relatively few studies that explore the effect of accelerometer-determined moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) on neck circumference (NC), most of them confined to single high-income countries. The present study investigated the association of accelerometer-determined MVPA with NC in adolescents and adults from eight Latin American countries, which are mostly upper-middle income countries.

The sample consisted of 2370 participants (47.8% male) from the Latin American Study of Nutrition and Health, a multicenter cross-sectional nutrition and health surveillance study of a nationally representative sample from eight Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela). Times (min/day) in MVPA (defined as time accumulated at ≥1952 activity counts/min) was assessed by ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometer over 7 days. NC for adolescent was categorized as abnormal if circumference was > 34.5 cm for boys and > 31.25 for girls, whereas for adults the cut-off points for abnormal were > 39 cm for men and > 35 cm women. Multilevel logistic models, including country and region as random effects and adjusted for sex, age, socioeconomic level, and educational level, were used to study the association between MVPA and NC.

The average time of MVPA was 34.88 min/day, ranging from 31.16 in Venezuela to 40.27 in Chile. Concerning NC, 37.0% of the sample was classified as having elevated NC. Chile was the country with the highest percentage of people with elevated NC (56.9%), and Colombia had the lowest percentage (24.8%). Overall, the MVPA (min/day) was associated with elevated NC (OR = 0.994, CI95% = 0.990-0.998). In Costa Rica and Peru, there were significant associations between MVPA and NC when analyzed by country.

The present study provided evidence of significant associations between MVPA and NC in adolescents and adults from Latin America, independent of sex, age, socioeconomic level, and educational level. This analysis of accelerometry data and NC represents the first examination of these associations in eight Latin America countries. Further research is required to understand the differences between countries in the observed associations.

ClinicalTrials.Gov NCT02226627 . Retrospectively registered on August 27, 2014.