The Associations of Weekend Warrior Activity Patterns With the Visceral Adiposity Index in US Adults: Repeated Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Background: According to previous reports, obesity especially visceral fat has become an important public health problem, causing an estimation of 20.5 disability-adjusted life years per 1000 inhabitants. Those who exercised for 1 or 2 days per week and reached the recommended 150 minutes of moderate physical activity (PA) per week have been defined as "weekend warriors" (WWs). Although the benefits of PA in suppressing obesity have been widely studied, the association of WWs with the Visceral Adiposity Index (VAI) and the difference between WW activity and regular PA are yet to be explored.

Objective: This study aims to explore the association between WW activity and other PA patterns with VAI in US adults.

Methods: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007-2016 data set was used, and the analytic sample was limited to adults 20 years and older who had complete information about VAI, PA patterns, and other covariates, including demographic characteristics, behavioral factors, and disease conditions. Participants' characteristics in different PA pattern groups were tested using the Rao and Scott adjusted χ² test and ANOVA. Univariate and multivariate stepped linear regression models were then used to explore the association between the PA pattern and VAI. Finally, stratified analyses and interaction effects were conducted to investigate whether the association was stable among subgroups.

Results: The final sample included 9642 adults 20 years or older, which is representative of 158.1 million noninstitutionalized US adults, with 52.15% (n=5169) being male and 70.8% (n=4443) being non-Hispanic White. Gender, age group, race, education level, income level, marital status, smoking status, alcoholism, VAI, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes were all correlated with the PA pattern, but no relationship between hypertension and PA pattern was observed. After adjusting for demographic covariates, smoking status, alcoholism, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and hypertension, WW and regularly active adults had a β of .307 (95% CI -0.611 to -0.003) and .354 (95% CI -0.467 to -0.241), respectively, for reduced VAI when compared with inactive adults, but no significant effect of lowering VAI (β=-.132, 95% CI -0.282 to 0.018) was observed in insufficiently active adults when compared with inactive adults. Besides, no significant difference was exhibited between WW adults and regularly active adults (β=.047, 95% CI -0.258 to 0.352), suggesting WW adults had the same benefit of decreasing VAI as regularly active adults. Stratified analyses results exhibited that WW activity was related to reduced VAI in female adults aged 20-44 years who were non-Hispanic Black, other, or multiracial; high school or General Educational Development education; and never married, and the association between PA pattern and VAI remained stable in all demographic subgroups.

Conclusions: Compared with inactive adults, WWs could reduce VAI, and there was no significant difference between WWs and regular active adults in decreasing VAI. Our study provides compelling evidence of the beneficial effect of WW activity on visceral obesity.

Keywords: NHANES; Visceral Adiposity Index; obesity; physical activity; weekend warrior.

Figure 1

Flowchart of study design. NHANES: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; VAI: Visceral Adiposity Index.

Figure 2

The forest plot of PA pattern and the Visceral Adiposity Index in adults. PA: physical activity.