The most effective exercise to prevent obesity: A longitudinal study of 33,731 Taiwan biobank participants

Abstract

Regular physical exercise is recommended to reduce the risk of obesity. However, it remains unclear which activities are more effective in preventing obesity. In this study, five obesity indices and lifestyle factors of 33,731 Taiwan Biobank adults were measured/collected twice with a mean time interval of 4.06 years. A linear mixed effects model was fitted to assess the associations of exercises with obesity indices, in which a random intercept term was used to account for individual differences. The five obesity indices included body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage (BFP), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), and waist-hip ratio (WHR). Among 23 exercises, jogging and yoga were consistently the most effective choices across all five obesity indices. One more weekly hour to jog was associated with a 0.093 kg/m² decrease in BMI (p = 4.2E-20), a 0.297% decrease in BFP (p = 3.8E-36), a 0.398 cm decrease in WC (p = 1.6E-21), and a 2.9E-3 decrease in WHR (p = 1.3E-17). One more weekly hour to perform yoga was associated with a 0.225 cm decrease in HC (p = 6.4E-14). Jogging is an exercise for the entire body. Arms swing, waist turn, legs and feet run, and shoulders and abdomen are also involved in this act. By contrast, many yoga poses use muscles around the hips and pelvis, and therefore yoga is the most effective exercise to reduce HC.

Keywords: body fat percentage; body mass index; hip circumference; waist circumference; waist-hip ratio.

FIGURE 1

Exercise main effects on body mass index and body fat percentage. The bars represent ${\widehat{\mathrm{\beta }}}_{{\mathbf{E}}_{\mathbf{k}}}$ in model (1), and the black segments mark the standard error of ${\widehat{\mathrm{\beta }}}_{{\mathbf{E}}_{\mathbf{k}}}$, where k = 1, …, 23. Bars with p < 0.0004 = 0.05/(23 × 5) were highlighted in green color.

FIGURE 2

Exercise main effects on waist circumference and hip circumference. The bars represent ${\widehat{\mathrm{\beta }}}_{{\mathbf{E}}_{\mathbf{k}}}$ in model (1), and the black segments mark the standard error of ${\widehat{\mathrm{\beta }}}_{{\mathbf{E}}_{\mathbf{k}}}$, where k = 1, …, 23. Bars with p < 0.0004 = 0.05/(23 × 5) were highlighted in green color.

FIGURE 3

Exercise main effects on waist-hip ratio. The bars represent ${\widehat{\mathrm{\beta }}}_{{\mathbf{E}}_{\mathbf{k}}}$ in model (1), and the black segments mark the standard error of ${\widehat{\mathrm{\beta }}}_{{\mathbf{E}}_{\mathbf{k}}}$, where k = 1, …, 23. Bars with p < 0.0004 = 0.05/(23 × 5) were highlighted in green color.