Light physical activity is a better determinant of lower adiposity during the menopausal transition

Abstract

Objective To investigate the relationship between time spent performing physical activity (PA) and adiposity across the menopausal transition.

Methods Body weight and body composition were analyzed in 65 women (47–54 years old; body mass index 23.2 ± 2.4 kg/m²) in a 5-year prospective study. Time spent in PA of varying intensities (sedentary, light, moderate and vigorous) was determined from 7-day accelerometer measurement and energy intake with a 7-day food diary.

Results Significant negative correlations were observed between the time spent in light-intensity PA and fat mass (FM) (r = −0.38, p < 0.005), central FM (r = −0.36, p < 0.005), peripheral FM (r = −0.33, p < 0.01), and percent body fat (r = −0.42, p < 0.001) at year 1, respectively. No significant correlations were noted between measures of adiposity and time spent performing either moderate or vigorous PA. Analyses using tertiles of time spent in light PA at year 1 showed that FM (20.7 ± 4.0 vs. 20.3 ± 6.6 vs. 16.6 ± 4.6 kg, p < 0.05), central FM (10.1 ± 2.6 vs. 10.0 ± 3.8 vs. 7.8 ± 2.4 kg; p < 0.05) and percent body fat (34.5 ± 5.1 vs. 32.2 ± 7.7 vs. 28.1 ± 6.2%, p < 0.01) were all significantly lower in women in the highest tertile. These differences remained significant after covariate analyses using time spent in moderate- and high-intensity PA and total energy intake. Finally, lower levels of FM, percent body fat, central and peripheral FM persisted in women who spent more time in light PA (highest tertiles) over the 5-year follow-up.

Conclusion Our results suggest that the time spent performing light PA may have a greater impact on adiposity than moderate and/or vigorous PA, an observation independent of the menopausal status.

Key words::

• PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
• ACCELEROMETRY
• BODY WEIGHT
• BODY COMPOSITION
• MENOPAUSE
• COMPENSATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to thank the participants for their devoted participation and to the staff of BMRU for their contribution to this study. We especially want to thank the study nurse, Ann Beninato for her significant role in the collection of the data and overall study coordination.

Conflict of interest The authors report no conflict of interest. M. E. Riou and É. Doucet analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript while the co-authors J. Abdulnour, M. Brochu, D. Prud'homme and R. Rabasa-Lhoret critically appraised and approved the final version of the manuscript. In addition, D. Prud'homme, M. Brochu, R. Rabasa-Lhoret and É. Doucet participated in the research design. M. E. Riou is a recipient of the Frederick Banting and Charles Best Doctoral Award (CIHR). R. Rabasa-Lhoret is a FRQ-S (Fonds de recherche du Quebec en santé) senior scholar and holds the J-A DeSève chair in clinical research.

Source of funding This study was supported by CIHR (Canadian Institute for Health Research) grants: 63279 MONET study (Montréal Ottawa New Emerging Team: DP, MB, RRL and ED).