HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Yao, M. Articles by Roberts, S. B Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Yao, M. Articles by Roberts, S. B Agricola Articles by Yao, M. Articles by Roberts, S. B

Relative influence of diet and physical activity on body composition in urban Chinese adults^1,2,3,4

¹ From the Jean Mayer US Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston (MY, MAM, KLT, PF, and SBR), and the Institute of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, Beijing (GM and SG).

Background: The relative influence of diet and physical activity on body fatness remains uncertain.

Objective: The objective of the study was to investigate associations of dietary variables and physical activity with body fatness in urban Chinese adults.

Design: We conducted a cross-sectional study in 130 weight-stable men and women aged 35–49 y. Subjects were selected from upper and lower tertiles of dietary fat and physical activity on the basis of screening questionnaires. Dietary intake was assessed by weighed food intake, physical activity level (PAL) was calculated as the ratio of predicted total energy expenditure (TEE) to predicted resting energy expenditure, and body composition was measured with the use of ²H₂O. Reported energy intake and predicted TEE were validated against TEE determined with the use of ²H₂¹⁸O (n = 73).

Results: Body fatness was positively associated with dietary variety (ie, variety of ingredients) (partial r = 0.186, P = 0.039) and frequency of consuming restaurant foods (partial r = 0.237, P = 0.001) and negatively associated with PAL (partial r = –0.307, P = 0.001) in a multiple regression analysis that controlled for sex and confounders. The combined variance accounted for by dietary variety and restaurant food consumption (9.1%) was equivalent to that for PAL (9.4%). Neither dietary fat nor energy density predicted body fatness, but dietary energy density predicted within-subject day-to-day variation in reported energy intake (P < 0.001).

Conclusions: Dietary variety, frequency of restaurant food consumption, and PAL significantly predicted body fatness in urban Chinese adults, but dietary fat did not. These findings support previous studies in US adults and suggest that dietary variables other than fat have an important influence on adult body composition.

Key Words: Physical activity level • dietary fat • energy density • dietary variety • restaurant food • body composition • doubly labeled water • China • adults

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. M.-M. Sea, J. Woo, P. C.-Y. Tong, C.-C. Chow, and J. C.-N. Chan Associations between Food Variety and Body Fatness in Hong Kong Chinese Adults J. Am. Coll. Nutr., October 1, 2004; 23(5): 404 - 413. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]