Abstract
Obesity is declared as a chronic multifaceted health problem, and young adults may be particularly vulnerable to weight gain. This study aims to identify the role of dietary calcium intake and the muscle strength index in handling excess of fat mass in young adults and to examine if the relationship between dietary calcium intake and fat mass percentage is mediated by muscle strength. A cross-sectional study including 355 Spanish college students (aged 21.05 ± 3.11) was performed during the 2017–2018 academic year. Pearson correlation coefficients were estimated to determine the relationship between dietary calcium intake, fat mass percentage, body mass index, muscle strength components, and total energy intake. ANCOVA models were used to analyze the differences in the muscle strength index by total dietary calcium intake categories, as well as the differences in % fat mass by total dietary calcium intake and muscle strength index categories, controlling for different sets of confounders. A mediator analysis was conducted to test if the relationship between dietary calcium intake and fat mass percentage was explained by muscle strength. Data on the fat mass percentage, dietary calcium intake, and muscle strength index as the sum of the standardized z-score of the standing long jump and z-score of handgrip/weight were collected. The muscle strength index was significantly better in young adults with higher dietary calcium intake. Moreover, the fat mass percentage was significantly lower in those with a higher dietary calcium intake and a better muscle strength index. Finally, the relationship between dietary calcium intake and fat mass percentage was fully mediated by muscle strength (z = −1.90; p < 0.05), explaining 33.33% of this relationship. This study suggests that both a major dietary calcium intake and muscle strength are associated with fat mass percentage. Moreover, muscle strength mediates the link between dietary calcium intake and fat mass percentage. Therefore, both high dietary calcium intake and exercise activities aimed at improving muscle strength levels may help to prevent the cardiometabolic risk associated with an excess of fat mass in young people.
Highlights
Obesity has been declared a chronic multifaceted health problem that affects 22% of the Spanish population [1]
Participants categorized as high muscle strength index showed sense, these results suggest that the relationship between calcium intake andsignifithe fat cantly lower values in fat mass percentage than those categorized as low and medium mass percentage was completely mediated by the muscle strength index, as confirmed by muscle strength index
In the third equation, the association between calcium intake and the fat mass percentage was reduced when the mediator was incorporated into the model. These results suggest that the relationship between calcium intake and the fat mass percentage was completely mediated by the muscle strength index, as confirmed by the values shown with the Sobel test (z = −1.90, p 0.001)
Summary
Obesity has been declared a chronic multifaceted health problem that affects 22% of the Spanish population [1]. The risk of excess fat mass in this population has been related in part to lifestyle factors such as leaving home, cohabiting, or takeaway food consumption [4,5]. In this critical period, lifestyle interventions related to diet and physical activity seem to have a key role as modifiable factors to control the imbalance of fat mass [6]. Muscle strength is currently recognized as an important marker of health associated with cardiometabolic risk factors [7,8,9]. It is well known that the loading effect of fat mass could be a training stimulus to improve muscle strength in youth [10]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
