ASSOCIATION BETWEEN LEISURE-TIME PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY AND 10-YEAR BODY-MASS CHANGE AMONG WORKING-AGED MEN AND WOMEN

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether habitual leisure time physical activit y and body mass change of working-aged men and women are associated. D ESIGN: Prospective 10 y follow-up study. SUBJECTS: A regionally repres entative cohort of 19-63 y old men (n=2564) and women (n=2695) in thre e municipalities in Finland. MEASUREMENTS: The main outcome measures w ere average body mass change during the 10 y of follow-up and the clin ically significant body mass gain defined as a body mass gain of 5 kg or more during the follow-up and a body mass index of 26 or higher at the end of the follow-up. Leisure time physical activity was determine d from self-administered questionnaires. RESULTS: After adjustment for the potential confounders, the logistic regression analysis showed th at the men and women with no regular weekly activity at the end of the follow-up had an odds ratio of 2.59 (95% confidence interval, 1.69-3. 97) and 2.67 (1.65-4.31), respectively for clinically significant body mass gain in comparison with the most active groups. The men who had decreased their activity during the 10 y follow-up had an odds ratio o f 1.96 (1.39-2.75), and the men who were physically inactive all the t ime had an odds ratio of 1.62 (1.18-2.20) for clinically significant b ody mass gain when compared with the subjects who were active all the time. Among the women the odds ratios for clinically significant body mass gain after adjustment for potential confounders were 2.49 (1.72-3 .60) and 1.61 (1.17-2.21), respectively. CONCLUSION: These findings ar e consistent with the hypothesis that regular physical activity preven ts body mass gain and physical inactivity is a risk factor for body ma ss gain and obesity among adults.