Differences in Body Composition across Police Occupations and Moderation Effects of Leisure Time Physical Activity.

Filip Kukić,J Jay Dawes,Nenad Koropanovski,Walker S C Poston,Milivoj Dopsaj,Katie M Heinrich,Robin Orr,Aleksandar Čvorović

doi:10.3390/ijerph17186825

Abstract

This study investigated differences in the body composition of police officers from different occupational groups and the moderation effects of leisure time physical activity (LTPA). A sample of 237 police officers (special anti-terrorist unit, gendarmerie, firefighters, and general duties) participated in the study. Body mass index (BMI), percent of body fat (%BF), percent of skeletal muscle mass (%SMM), and index of hypokinesia (IH) were assessed using a multichannel bioelectric impedance analyzer and officers reported the amount of LTPA using an international physical activity questionnaire. The sample was divided in three groups relative to LTPA, sedentary (0–149 min/week), moderately active (150–299 min/week), and very active (300+ min/week). Multiple analysis of variance (4 × 3) was used to analyze if occupational groups differed based solely on occupation, if officers from the same occupation differed in muscularity and fatness based on LTPA, and if any differences in body composition occurred between officers from different occupations with the same level of LTPA. Police officers from more physically demanding occupations demonstrated lower %BF and IH, while having higher %SMM. This was also observed among the officers of the same occupation who reported a higher LTPA, while officers who reported very high LTPA had similar body composition.

Highlights

The tasks performed differ across police occupations, some of which are physically demanding, while others are more sedentary [1,2,3]
We found that officers with more physically demanding occupations had moderately better body composition, as well as a higher V-leisure time physical activity (LTPA)
Information on family tasks and their association with age could be considered in the future, and whether older police officers were higher ranked in police organizations so their duties were more organizational and supervision-based rather than in the field. This was the first study to investigate the differences in body composition and LTPA across several police occupations and whether LTPA moderated that relationship

Summary

Introduction

The tasks performed differ across police occupations, some of which are physically demanding (i.e., pursuing and engaging in physical confrontations with violent offenders), while others are more sedentary (i.e., administrative work) [1,2,3]. To perform physically demanding tasks effectively and with a reduced risk of injury, performance-related and health-related physical fitness [4,5,6] is very important for police officers [7,8,9,10]. Assessments of physical performance in police officers have often been associated with measures of body fat mass and skeletal muscle mass [5,8,11]. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 6825; doi:10.3390/ijerph17186825 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion