Abstract
Abstract *Objective*: To investigate the best statistical models that describe the effect of physical activity on BMI.*Design*: Cross-sectional analyses of physical activity and BMI data. *Subjects*: 107 obese, overweight, and healthy college students (mean duration of physical activity for the normal, overweight, and obese students: 89, 59, and 24 months, respectively; mean BMI for the normal, overweight, and obese students: 21.61, 27.07, and 35.54 kg/m2, respectively).*Measurements*: Inverse linear, inverse logarithmic, and inverse logistics models were used to analyze survey data for physical activity (measured by both frequency and duration of exercise) and BMI. Gender, age, and physical intensity variables were also statistically controlled. *Results*: Coefficients of determination, r-squared, showed the inverse logarithmic model is more accurate in describing the effect of physical activity on BMI than is the inverse linear model. The inverse logistic method also showed physical activity affects BMI. *Conclusions*: Although the inverse logarithmic method can be used in some cases, the inverse logistic model seems to be theoretically and empirically best suited in describing the relationship between physical activity and body weight.
Highlights
Researchers, health specialists, and public officials have long known that an increased level of exercise is negatively related with body fat or weight
In analysis not shown here, we interacted the Frequency and Duration variables, but we found that the impact of the multiplicative effect on body mass index (BMI) was insignificant
One substantial finding of this study was that the duration of exercise was that matters in lowering or maintaining the BMI of undergraduate-college students
Summary
Researchers, health specialists, and public officials have long known that an increased level of exercise is negatively related with body fat or weight. Numerous empirical studies have confirmed such a relationship.[1,2,3,4,5,6] The relationship between physical activity and body fat or weight is derived from the assumption that a normal-weight person’s energy intake is equal or nearly equal to his/her energy expenditure.[7,1,8] That is, a person becomes overweight or obese if his/her energy intake is greater than his/her energy expenditure, and one way of maintaining the energy balance is by getting rid of the extra calories by performing physical activity.[9] What are not clearly understood, are the statistical models that best describe the connection between physical activity and body fat or weight.[10] For instance, Hemmingsson & Ekelund (2007) find that the association between physical activity and body mass index (BMI) is stronger in obese individuals than in non-obese persons Their findings led them to question the conventional inverse-linear effect of physical activity on BMI. Several other researchers have obtained similar results.[11,12,13] Such findings suggest the presence of a threshold of physical activity, which occurs when a person moves from an overweight to a normal-weight status
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