ENERGY-INTAKE AND PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY IN RELATION TO INDEXES OF BODY-FAT - THE NATIONAL-HEART,-LUNG,-AND-BLOOD-INSTITUTE GROWTH AND HEALTH STUDY

The relationship between energy intake, physical activity, and body fa t was investigated in the baseline visit of 2379 black and white girls aged 9-10 y enrolled in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Growth and Health Study. Three-day food records, three-day physical a ctivity diaries, physical-activity-patterns questionnaires, and an ass essment of the number of hours of television and video watched were ob tained. Multivariate-regression analyses showed that age, the number o f hours of television and video watched, the percent of energy from sa turated fatty acids, and the activity-patterns score best explained th e variation in body mass index and sum of three skinfold-thickness mea surements for black girls. The best model for white girls included age , the number of hours of television and video watched, and the percent of energy from total fat. These results indicate that body fatness is related to energy intake and expenditure in both black and white girl s. Longitudinal studies will help assess the value of these variables in predicting changes in body fat.