Relation of aerobic fitness, eating behavior and physical activity to body composition in college-age women: A path analysis

Abstract

Objective

Given the number of college students with a normal BMI decreases 9-12% throughout the college experience, we wanted to model the traits responsible for behaviors impacting body composition in college-age women. Participants: Participants (n = 141) were recruited from a freshman-level nutrition course between August 2016 and May 2018. Methods: We built a path analysis model using variables from online questionnaires and lab visits. We grouped participants by median split of aerobic fitness and evaluated model fit. We defined statistical significance as p < .05. Results: The model provided an adequate representation of the data (CFI = 0.921). Aerobic fitness was the strongest predictor of body fat (p < .001) in both high-fit (–0.440) and low-fit (–0.469) women. Body dissatisfaction demonstrated relationships with body fat previously established in athletes and clinical populations. Conclusion: Physical activity to improve aerobic fitness appears most effective at maintaining healthy body composition in this population.

Keywords:

• Aerobic fitness
• body composition
• body dissatisfaction
• drive for thinness
• path analysis

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported in part by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NEB-36-083).