Association between physical activity levels and mortality across adiposity: A longitudinal study of age-specific Asian populations

Aim

This study investigated the association of physical activity (PA) levels with all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality risks stratified by adiposity and age.

Methods

Participants (36 703; mean age: 49.1; 57.1% women) were selected from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007–2013. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to examine the association between PA and mortality across different adiposity categories and ages.

Results

Median follow-up was 9.22 years; 2393 individuals died, including 538 with CVD. Compared with normal-weight controls, underweight individuals had increased all-cause mortality risk (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.60, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.33–1.79). The overweight and obese groups demonstrated reduced mortality risks (HRs: 0.75 [95% CI: 0.67–0.84] and 0.59 [95% CI: 0.51–0.67], respectively). Mortality risk based on abdominal obesity had an HR of 1.22 (95% CI: 1.08–1.37). PA protected against mortality risk most in the obese group performing more than 1000 MET-min/week and was particularly significant among those who were underweight and obese aged 65 and older.

Conclusions

Overweight and obese Asian individuals (based on body mass index) had a lower mortality risk than those with normal body mass index, whereas obesity based on waist circumference was associated with increased mortality. PA protected against mortality across various weight categories, especially in individuals aged ≥65. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2024; 24: 1156–1164.