Questionnaire-Measured Physical Activity, Daily Steps, and Body Composition in Middle-Aged Women

Abstract

0787 The prevalence of obesity is rising throughout the United States. Across the life span, women are particularly vulnerable to weight gain during the middle years (40–70 years old). One of the risk factors for development of obesity is physical inactivity. PURPOSE: To determine the association between different measures of physical activity (PA) and measurements of body composition (BC) in middle-aged women. METHODS: Sixty women between the ages of 40 and 66 years (mean = 51.0 +/− 6.6 y) were tested for weight, height, waist circumference, hip circumference, and body fat percentage (%BF). At the same laboratory visit, subjects completed the College Alumni Questionnaire (CAQ) and the Seven-Day Physical Activity Recall (PAR). For seven days following testing, subjects wore a waist-mounted pedometer throughout the day except for sleeping or showering. Daily accumulated steps were recorded each evening. Pearson correlations were calculated to show the strength of association between measures of PA and BC. RESULTS: The average body mass index (BMI), %BF, and waist to hip ratio (WHR) was 25.8 +/− 4.4 kg.m-2, 34.5 +/− 9.2%, and 0.81 +/− 0.07, respectively. The correlation between the CAQ and BMI, %BF, and WHR was r = 0.02 (P = 0.86); r = −0.24 (P = 0.07), and r = −0.33 (P = 0.01), respectively. The correlation between the PAR and BMI, %BF, and WHR was r = 0.20 (P = 0.13), r = −0.22 (P = 0.09), and r = −0.40 (P<0.01), respectively. The correlation between steps per day and BMI, %BF, and WHR was r = −0.46 (P<0.001), r = −0.87 (P<0.001), and r = −0.79 (P<0.001), respectively. CONCLUSION: In middle-aged women, daily accumulated steps per day is highly associated with BC variables. This strong association is probably related to the fact that walking is the most predominant PA chosen by women in this age range.