European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

ROLE OF HABITUAL PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN MAINTAINING NORMAL BODY WEIGHT OF URBAN AFFLUENT WOMEN OF DELHI - A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

*Dr. Anu Taneja Gupta and Dr. Anupa Siddhu

ABSTRACT

The aim was to assess habitual physical activity of urban affluent women who maintain normal weight in existing obesogenic environment vis-à-vis overweight women. Cross-sectional study conducted in Delhi, on 387 women (25-45yrs; BMI ≥18.5 Kg/m2). Women (n=387) categorized into four BMI categories (N- Normal, PO- Pre-overweight, OW- Overweight, Ob- Obese). Mean basal metabolic rate, mean total day’s energy expenditure and intake, PAL value calculated and analysed using chi-square test and ANOVA. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve drawn between BMI and PAL to identify weight maintaining cut-off of PAL. Mean PAL significantly higher for N (1.69 ± 0.08). Mean time spent in discretionary activities without exercise was significantly higher (p<0.001) for women in N. Mean time spent in exercise was significantly higher (p=0.002) for N. Mean sleeping time (389 ± 41.3 min) and sitting time (5.9 ± 1.6 hours) significantly lower (p<0.001) for N. PAL value > 1.64 gave best sensitivity and specificity when area under the curve (AUC) was 0.861. Habitual physical activity and 30 minutes of physical exercise/day helps in achieving the PAL value of >1.64 and thus maintains normal body weight.

Keywords: Body Mass Index, Normal weight, Overweight, Obese, Habitual physical activity.