Abstract
The association between diet and obesity has been widely studied and it continues to be controversial; however, the extent to which cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) acts as a confounder or mediator in this relation has not been analyzed. The aim of this study is to examine if the relation between diet and obesity is mediated by CRF. In this cross-sectional study, fat mass (by electronic bioimpedance) was measured in 320 schoolchildren, aged 9–11 years. Diet was measured through two computerised 24-h dietary recalls and CRF was assessed by the 20-m shuttle run test. Simple mediation analyses were fitted. CRF acts as a partial mediator in the negative relationship between dietary factors (energy intake/weight, carbohydrate intake/weight, protein intake/weight, and fat intake/weight) and fat mass. The percentage of mediation ranged from 24.3 to 33.2%. Thus, Spanish schoolchildren with higher levels of energy and macronutrients intake had lower adiposity levels, especially when they had good levels of CRF.
Highlights
Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions worldwide [1,2,3]
Due to the controversial relation found in the literature between diet, cardiorespiratory fitness, and obesity in children, and the reported relationship between CRF and body fat, we hypothesized that CRF could act as a mediator in the relationship between diet and obesity
No changes in the direction or significance of partial correlation coefficients were found when examining the relationship between body composition variables and dietary factors controlling for CRF, age, and sex, and CRF is likely not a confounding variable in the association between diet and obesity
Summary
Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions worldwide [1,2,3]. In Spain, more than. An effect of physical activity training in overweight and obese adolescents aged 12–17 years has been reported, where improvements in fitness were found in eight of the 11 studies included, and no relations were found in the rest [16]. Due to the controversial relation found in the literature between diet, cardiorespiratory fitness, and obesity in children, and the reported relationship between CRF and body fat, we hypothesized that CRF could act as a mediator in the relationship between diet and obesity. The aim of this study was twofold: first, to assess the association of different components of diet with body composition variables in 9–11 year-old Spanish children, and second, to explore the mediatory influence of CRF on this association
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