Relationships Between Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Quality Of Life in Adults: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to assess the relationships between dietary intake, physical activity level, and health-related quality of life (QoL) in adults.Method: This cross-sectional and descriptive study utilized a 24-hour dietary recall to assess nutrient intake, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF) to measure physical activity levels, and the SF-12 Health Survey to measure QoL. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 26.Results: A total of 1,650 individuals (57.3% women) voluntarily participated in the study. The mean age was 43.5±19.04 years, and the mean body mass index (BMI) was 25.9±5.09 kg/m². Negative and moderate correlations were found between age and the Physical Component Summary (PCS-12) (r=-0.530, p<0.001), and between age and IPAQ-SF scores (r=-0.355, p<0.001). BMI was also negatively correlated with PCS-12 scores (r=-0.302, p<0.001). IPAQ-SF scores were weak but positively correlated with protein (r=0.130, p<0.001) and energy intake (r=0.049, p<0.001). According to the results of the regression analysis, the model consisting of age, BMI, Mental Component Summary (MCS-12), total IPAQ-SF score, and several nutrient intake variables explained 35.4% of the variance in the PCS-12 score (R²=0.354, p<0.001).Conclusion: The findings indicate that nutrition and physical activity are significantly associated with both the physical and mental components of health-related QoL. These results underline the importance of promoting healthy lifestyle behaviours. However, future longitudinal and interventional studies would be useful to elucidate the causal effects of dietary habits and physical activity levels on QoL in greater detail.