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Association of physical activity with adiposity in preschoolers using different clinical adiposity measures: a
Amar Arhab1,2, Nadine Messerli-Bürgy3, Tanja H Kakebeeke4,5
1Obstetric Service, Department Women-Mother-Child, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland. amar.arhab@unil.ch.
Insights
Physical activity (PA) is linked to higher BMI and waist circumference (WC) in preschoolers, but not those who are overweight. For overweight preschoolers, PA relates to less skinfold thickness, suggesting its importance in managing childhood obesity.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Obesity Research
- Physical Activity Science
Background:
- Limited research exists on physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB), and adiposity in preschoolers using direct clinical measures.
- Objective measurement of PA and adiposity is crucial for understanding these relationships in early childhood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between objectively measured PA and various clinical adiposity measures in a large preschooler sample.
- To explore the links between PA, SB, and adiposity indicators like BMI, skinfolds, and WC in young children.
Main Methods:
- Utilized accelerometer data for objective PA and SB measurement in 463 preschoolers (ages 2-6).
- Assessed adiposity using body mass index (BMI), sum of four skinfolds, and waist circumference (WC).
- Employed multilevel linear regression, adjusting for age, sex, and wear time, to analyze associations.
Main Results:
- Total PA positively correlated with BMI and WC in normal-weight children; SB showed inverse associations.
- In overweight/obese children, total PA was inversely associated with skinfold thickness.
- Moderate-to-vigorous PA and SB showed associations with WC in normal-weight children.
Conclusions:
- PA is positively associated with BMI and WC in normal-weight preschoolers, a link not seen in overweight/obese children.
- In overweight/obese preschoolers, PA inversely relates to skinfold thickness, highlighting its potential role in fat mass reduction.
- Skinfold thickness is a practical clinical measure for body fat in preschoolers; further research on vigorous PA for obesity prevention is recommended.
Background:
More research is needed about the association between physical activity (PA), sedentary behaviour (SB), and adiposity in preschoolers, particularly using more direct clinical measures of adiposity. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to investigate the association between objectively measured PA and different clinical adiposity measures in a large sample of preschoolers.
Methods:
Four hundred sixty-three predominantly normal-weight (77%) 2-6-year-old preschool children participated in the Swiss Preschoolers' Health Study (SPLASHY). Physical activity was measured using accelerometers and was analyzed using 15-s (uni-axial) epoch length using validated cut-offs. Adiposity measures included body mass index (BMI), the sum of four skinfolds, and waist circumference (WC). Multilevel linear regression modeling, adjusted for age, sex and wear time, was used to assess the association between PA and SB with BMI, WC, and skinfold thickness.
Results:
Total PA and different PA intensities were positively and SB was inversely associated with BMI in the total sample and in the normal-weight children (p < 0.05). Total PA was inversely associated with skinfold thickness in overweight and obese children (p < 0.05), while there was only a weak association for vigorous PA (p > 0.05). Moderate and moderate-to-vigorous PA were positively, and SB was negatively associated with WC in the total sample and in the normal-weight children (p < 0.05). Additional adjustment for potential sociocultural and biological confounding variables attenuated some of the results.
Conclusions:
In this very young and predominantly normal-weight population, PA is positively related to BMI and WC, but this relationship is not observed in overweight and obese children. In this latter population, PA is inversely, and SB is positively related to skinfold thickness. Skinfold thickness could represent a useful and simple clinical measure of body fat in preschoolers. The role of vigorous PA in the prevention of early childhood obesity should be further investigated in future studies.
Trial Registration:
ISRCTN ISRCTN41045021 . Retrospectively registered 06 May 2014.
