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. 2016 Oct 25;8(11):667.
doi: 10.3390/nu8110667.

Sedentary Behavior Is Independently Related to Fat Mass among Children and Adolescents in South China

Hongmei Xue  1 , Guo Tian  2 , Ruonan Duan  3 , Liming Quan  4 , Li Zhao  5 , Min Yang  6 , Lars Libuda  7   8 , Rebecca Muckelbauer  9 , Guo Cheng  10
Affiliations

Sedentary Behavior Is Independently Related to Fat Mass among Children and Adolescents in South China

Hongmei Xue et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

We aim to explore the independent associations of sedentary behaviors (SB) with body mass distribution among Chinese children. Data on the screen-based sedentary time (television viewing and computer use) and doing homework, physical activities and dietary intake of 1586 Chinese children (50.3% girls) aged 7-15 years were obtained through validated questionnaires. Skin-fold thickness, body height, and weight were measured to calculate percent body fat (%BF), fat mass index (FMI), and fat-free mass index (FFMI). Parental characteristics were collected by questionnaires. Among girls, time of SB (screen time or doing homework) was positively related to %BF, FMI, and FFMI (p < 0.03) after adjusting for maternal overweight, the average annual income of family, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity energy expenditure, and energy intake: Girls in the highest tertile of screen time/homework had 16.7%/23.3% higher relative FMI and 2.9%/2.9% higher relative FFMI than girls in the lowest tertile. Among boys, screen time was positively associated with FFMI (p < 0.003), but not related to %BF and FMI (p > 0.09), while time of doing homework was positively related to %BF and FMI (p = 0.03). Sedentary behaviors might be positively and independently related to fat mass among Chinese children, and were more pronounced in girls.

Keywords: body fat; energy intake; physical activity; sedentary time.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure A1
Figure A1
Body mass indicators ((a) percentage body fat; (b) fat mass index; (c) fat-free mass index) by tertiles of time spent on television viewing (h/day) of children stratified by gender (girls ■, boys formula image). Data shown are least-squares means (95% CI) adjusted for average annual income of family, maternal overweight, total energy intake (MJ/day) and MVPA energy expenditure (MJ/day)); * p for trend < 0.05. p for trend refers to p values obtained by linear regression models with total time spent on sedentary behaviors as continuous variables.
Figure A1
Figure A1
Body mass indicators ((a) percentage body fat; (b) fat mass index; (c) fat-free mass index) by tertiles of time spent on television viewing (h/day) of children stratified by gender (girls ■, boys formula image). Data shown are least-squares means (95% CI) adjusted for average annual income of family, maternal overweight, total energy intake (MJ/day) and MVPA energy expenditure (MJ/day)); * p for trend < 0.05. p for trend refers to p values obtained by linear regression models with total time spent on sedentary behaviors as continuous variables.
Figure A2
Figure A2
Body mass indicators ((a) percentage body fat; (b) fat mass index; (c) fat-free mass index) by tertiles of time spent on doing homework (h/day) of children stratified by gender (girls ■, boys formula image); Data shown are least-squares means (95% CI) adjusted for average annual income of family, maternal overweight, total energy intake (MJ/day) and MVPA energy expenditure (MJ/day)); * p for trend < 0.05. p for trend refers to p values obtained by linear regression models with total time spent on sedentary behaviors as continuous variables.
Figure A2
Figure A2
Body mass indicators ((a) percentage body fat; (b) fat mass index; (c) fat-free mass index) by tertiles of time spent on doing homework (h/day) of children stratified by gender (girls ■, boys formula image); Data shown are least-squares means (95% CI) adjusted for average annual income of family, maternal overweight, total energy intake (MJ/day) and MVPA energy expenditure (MJ/day)); * p for trend < 0.05. p for trend refers to p values obtained by linear regression models with total time spent on sedentary behaviors as continuous variables.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Body mass indicators ((a) percentage body fat; (b) fat mass index; (c) fat-free mass index) by tertiles of time spent on screen-based sedentary behaviors (h/day) of children stratified by gender (girls ■, boys formula image). Data shown are least-squares means (95% CI) adjusted for average annual income of family, maternal overweight, total energy intake (MJ/day) and MVPA energy expenditure (MJ/day)). * p for trend <0.05. p for trend refers to p values obtained by linear regression models with total time spent on sedentary behaviors as continuous variables.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Body mass indicators ((a) percentage body fat; (b) fat mass index; (c) fat-free mass index) by tertiles of total time spent on doing homework (h/day) of children stratified by gender (girls ■, boys formula image). Data shown are least-squares means (95% CI) adjusted for average annual income of family, maternal overweight, total energy intake (MJ/day) and MVPA energy expenditure (MJ/day)). * p for trend <0.05. p for trend refers to p values obtained by linear regression models with total time spent on sedentary behaviors as continuous variables.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Body mass indicators ((a) percentage body fat; (b) fat mass index; (c) fat-free mass index) by tertiles of total time spent on sedentary behaviors (h/day) of children stratified by gender (girls ■, boys formula image). Data shown are least-squares means (95% CI) adjusted for average annual income of family, maternal overweight, total energy intake (MJ/day) and MVPA energy expenditure (MJ/day)). * p for trend <0.05. p for trend refers to p values obtained by linear regression models with total time spent on sedentary behaviors as continuous variables.
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