Dietary intake, physical activity and muscle strength among adolescents: the Malaysian Health and Adolescents Longitudinal Research Team (MyHeART) study

Objective To examine the role of dietary intake and physical activity in muscle strength among adolescents. Design Cross-sectional analysis. Setting The Malaysian Health and Adolescents Longitudinal Research Team (MyHeART) study. Participants Fifteen-year-old secondary school children who have given consent and who participated in the MyHeART study in 2014. Primary outcome measure Muscle strength was measured in relation to dietary intake (energy and macronutrients) and physical activity by using a hand grip dynamometer. Results Among the 1012 participants (395 male; 617 female), the hand grip strength of the males was higher than that of the females (27.08 kg vs 18.63 kg; p<0.001). Also, males were more active (2.43vs2.12; p<0.001) and consumed a higher amount of energy (2047 kcal vs 1738 kcal; p<0.001), carbohydrate (280.71 g vs 229.31 g; p<0.001) and protein (1.46 g/kg body weight (BW) vs 1.35 g/kg BW; p