Leisure-Time Physical Activity and Obesity Risk in Adults in Mexico

Very little is known about the longitudinal associations between physical activity and obesity in Latin America. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate associations of leisure-time physical activity with abdominal and general obesity in adults in Mexico.

Participants in the Mexico City Prospective Study were surveyed from 1998 to 2004 and resurveyed from 2015 to 2019. Leisure-time physical activity volume at baseline was categorized as none or low or, alternatively, medium or high. Abdominal obesity at resurvey was defined as waist circumference ≥88 cm in women and ≥102 cm in men, while general obesity as BMI ≥30 kg/m². Logistic regression models were adjusted for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors. Sensitivity analyses were also conducted in people who had never smoked and using different obesity scenarios.

The analysis included 9,782 adults aged 51 (11) years at baseline (mean [SD]). There were 6,818 cases of abdominal obesity and 2,964 cases of general obesity at resurvey. Compared with the group that reported little or no leisure-time physical activity, the OR (95% CI) for abdominal obesity was 0.86 (0.76, 0.98), and the OR for general obesity was 0.85 (0.75, 0.96) in the group that reported medium or high leisure-time physical activity. Similar associations were observed in participants who never smoked and in some of the obesity scenarios.

This novel study suggests that leisure-time physical activity is associated with reduced risk of both abdominal and general obesity in adults in Mexico.