Physical activity and dietary fat as determinants of body mass index in a cross-sectional corelational design.

Abstract

Overweight/obesity and related disease conditions will constitute a major threat to the economically productive adults and subsequently, will present a huge health-care burden on developing countries in the near future. Suspected determinants include physical activity and dietary fat. The main indicator of overweight/obesity is Body Mass Index (BMI . The purpose of this article is to present the prediction power of physical activity and dietary fat intake on BMI of lecturers within a higher learning institutionalized setting. The study adopted a cross-sectional correlational design. Proportionate and simple random sampling techniques were used to select a sample of 120 lecturers who participated in the study. Data collection was conducted through questionnaires, which had sections including physical activity checklist, 24-hour food recall, anthropometrics measurements mainly weight and height. Analysis of data involved the use of bivariate correlation and linear regression. A significant inverse association occurred between BMI and minutes spent in moderate intense physical activity per day (r=-0.322, p<0.01). Physical activity also predicted BMI (R2 =0.096, F=13.616, β=-3.22, t=-3.69, N=120, P<0.01). However, the association between Body Mass Index and dietary fat was not significant (r=0.038, p>0.05). In conclusion, physical activity was a significant predictor to BMI and on the contrary no significant impact was caused by dietary fat intake. Therefore, we still need further investigations on the effect of physical activity and dietary fat on BMI and risk factors associated poor diet should take priority.