Body Fat Is Related to Sedentary Behavior and Light Physical Activity but Not to Moderate-Vigorous Physical Activity in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

BackgroundSedentary behavior (SB) has emerged as a new risk factor for cardiovascular accidents. We investigated whether physical activity levels or SB were related to percent body fat (%BF) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).MethodsIn this cross sectional study, we measured the duration of SB, light physical activity (LPA), moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), total energy expenditure, and step counts using a wireless activity tracker (Fitbit HR; FB) for 7 days in free-living conditions, along with %BF using a bio impedance analyzer (Inbody; Biospace) in 120 smartphone users with T2DM. Subjects were divided into exercise (Exe, n=68) and non-exercise (nonExe, n=52) groups based on self-reports of whether the recommended exercises (30 min/day, 3 days/week for 3 months) were performed. SBt, LPAt, MVPAt were transformed from SB, LPA, MVPA for normally distributed variables.ResultsParticipants were: female, 59.2%; age, 59.3±8.4 years; body mass index, 25.5±3.4 kg/m2; glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), 7.6%±1.2%; %BF, 30.4%±7.1%. They performed SB for 15.7±3.7 hr/day, LPA for 4.4±1.7 hr/day, and MVPA for 0.9±0.8 hr/day. The %BF was related to SBt and LPAt, but not to MVPA after adjustments for age, gender, and HbA1c. VPA was significantly higher in the Exe group than in the nonExe group, but SB, LPA, and moderate physical activity were not different. Predicted %BF was 89.494 to 0.105 (age), −13.047 (gender), −0.507 (HbA1c), −7.655 (LPAt) (F[4, 64]=62.929, P<0.001), with an R2 of 0.785 in multiple linear regression analysis.ConclusionReduced body fat in elderly diabetic patients might be associated with reduced inactivity and increased LPA.

Keywords

• body fat distribution
• diabetes mellitus, type 2
• exercise
• sedentary behavior