Relations between physical activity, sedentary time, and body fat from childhood to adolescence: Do they differ by sex?

Background: Efforts to reveal the direction of influence between physical activity (PA), sedentary time (ST) and body fat in youth have produced inconsistent results, possibly due to a lack of adjustment for confounders and other factors. Sex-specific associations have rarely been studied.

Methods: A sample from two Norwegian birth cohorts (n = 809) were followed biennially over five waves from the age of 6-14 years. Physical activity and ST were recorded by accelerometers, and body fat was assessed by bioelectrical impedance measurements.

Results: By applying a dynamic panel model (DPM) that adjusts for all time-invariant confounding factors, it was found that among boys, increased fat mass index (FMI) at ages 8, 10 and 12 years predicted decreased PA two years later (8-10 years: B = -0.67, (95% CI: -1.1, -0.24); 10-12 years: B = -0.33, (95% CI: -0.61, -0.05); 12-14 years: B = -0.29, (95% CI: -0.52, -0.06)). Regarding the opposite direction of influence, more PA at age 12 forecasted reduced FMI at age 14 (B = -0.16, (95% CI: -0.24, -0.07)), whereas increased FMI predicted increased ST across all time points in boys only (6-8 years: B = 0.23, (95% CI:0.02.43); 8-10 years: B = 0.23, (95% CI:.08.39); 10-12 years: B = 0.13, (95% CI:.03.23); 12-14 years: B = 0.17, (95% CI:.07, 26)). The revealed relationships were significantly stronger in boys compared to the (absent) relations in girls. Sensitivity analyses examining moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) rather than total PA were in accordance with the main findings.

Conclusions: In boys, increased FMI predicted reduced PA and increased ST two years later from childhood to adolescence. The opposite direction of influence was evident from only ages 12-14. There were no prospective relationships between FMI and PA or ST among girls.