Assessment of changes in somatic characteristics based on the level of physical activity in women who undertook weight reduction course.

Objective: Obesity is a chronic disease in modern age and finding approach to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of obesity has its place among the priorities of modern medicine and related fields. Important component in programmes to reduce overweight and obesity is regular physical activity (PA), which plays vital role in the comprehensive approach to the treatment of obesity. Primary objective of our study was to assess changes in somatic characteristics following eleven weeks of PA in overweight and obese women aged 30 to 60 years.

Methods: Our research sample consisted of 221 women who were classified according to the level of PA carried out, namely 1, 2 and 3 category. STOB (STop OBesity) course participants underwent PA monitoring and diagnosis of the body composition, which is a modern multifaceted cognitive behavioural method.

Results: Younger highly active women (PA 3) achieved higher average differences in body fat than did women with the typical daily activity (PA 1), however, significant differences have not been found. Statistically significant differences in visceral fat between the 1 (PA 1) and 3 PA category (PA 3) have been observed in older women.

Conclusion: Given the significantly higher increase of fat-free mass percentage in older highly active women (PA 3), we may assess the course results positively. Our study demonstrated positive correlation between carrying out the recommended level of PA and its impact on the body composition's health risk indicators. Obese women should walk at least 10,000 steps per day to improve their health.