Impact of physical activity on waist circumference and body mass index in young women

Abstract

Introduction: Overweight and obesity are currently a major health problem. The medical consequence of excess body weight is disease. Abdominal obesity is a dangerous phenomenon because visceral distribution of excess fat is a pro-inflammatory factor.Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of physical activity on body fat expressed as body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference among young women aged 19–26.Materials and methods: The study was based on non-invasive anthropometric measurements of women (n = 738) conducted during the years 2014, 2019 and 2026 and a short questionnaire concerning their physical activity. The traits determined for the study were body height (B-v) (cm), body weight (kg), and waist circumference (cm). Body mass index and the difference between waist circumference and half of body height were calculated. Statistical analysis of the results was performed, including the significance of differences in the values for the traits tested and the strength and direction of the linear relationships between them.Results: A relationship was shown between the level of physical activity and the range of BMI and waist circumference values, indicating a risk of overweight and abdominal obesity. Women shown to be overweight weighed on average 19 kg more than controls, with a waist circumference more than 14 cm greater. The difference between their waist circumference and half their body weight was also significantly smaller. Underweight subjects weighed significantly less (by about 10 kg) and had a markedly smaller waist circumference (by about 7 cm). Conclusion: Promoting various forms of physical activity and making it easy for people to monitor their own body weight appears to be one of the active measures that can be taken to address the multifactorial problem of excess body weight in the modern population.