Association of Changes in Physical Activity and Incidence and Remission of Overall and Abdominal Obesity in 113,950 Adults

• Published in: Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) Vol. 28; no. 3; pp. 660 - 668
• Main Authors: Martinez‐Gomez, David, Hamer, Mark, Ortega, Francisco B., Cabanas‐Sanchez, Verónica, Sadarangani, Kabir P., Lavie, Carl J., Rodríguez‐Artalejo, Fernando
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.03.2020
• Subjects: Abdomen; Blood pressure; Diabetes; Educational attainment; Exercise; Marital status; Medical research; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Metabolism; Obesity; Questionnaires; Remission (Medicine); Studies; Variables; Weight control; Women; Taiwan
• ISSN: 1930-7381; 1930-739X; 1930-739X
• DOI: 10.1002/oby.22709

Objective This study examined the dose‐response relationship between changes in physical activity (PA) and subsequent incidence or remission of overall and abdominal obesity. Methods A total of 113,950 healthy individuals aged ≥ 18 years participating in the Taiwan MJ Cohort were included. Two‐year changes in PA between the first and second examination were linked to subsequent development and remission of overall and abdominal obesity. Results During a mean 5.6‐year follow‐up after the second examination, 9,991 and 11,488 individuals developed overall and abdominal obesity, respectively; also, 3,588 and 3,156 participants with obesity lost sufficient weight or reduced their waist circumference to be classified as nonobese. Compared with no changes in PA, the multivariable hazard ratio (95% CI) of overall obesity was 0.95 (0.90‐1.00) for a PA increase of 0.01 to 3.74 metabolic equivalent hours (MET‐h) per week and 0.86 (0.80‐0.91) for a PA increase of ≥ 3.75 MET‐h per week. Corresponding values for remission of obesity were 1.00 (0.91‐1.09) and 1.16 (1.05‐1.28). Similar results were observed for the development and remission of abdominal obesity. Any decrease in PA was not associated with the risk of obesity outcomes when compared with a stable pattern (0 MET‐h/week). Conclusions Increasing PA was consistently associated with a progressively lower incidence and higher remission of overall and abdominal obesity.