Body composition is associated with physical activity in daily life as measured using a triaxial accelerometer in both men and women.

BACKGROUND: Activity-related energy expenditure is the most variable component of total energy expenditure and thus an important determinant of energy balance.Objective:To determine whether body composition is related to physical activity in both men and women. DESIGN: A total of 134 healthy participants were recruited (80 women, 54 men; aged 21+/-2 years; body mass index, 22.0+/-2.4). Physical activity was measured for a period of 2 weeks using a triaxial accelerometer for movement registration (Tracmor). Percentage body fat (%BF) was determined by underwater weighing and deuterium dilution according to Siri's three-compartment model. RESULTS: The participant characteristics-body mass, height and gender together explained a substantial part of the variation in %BF (R(2)=0.75, SEE=4.0%). Adding physical activity to the model increased the explained variation in %BF with 4% (R(2)=0.79, SEE=3.7%, P<0.001). Taking seasonality into account by adding the number of daylight hours as an independent variable further increased the explained variation with 1% (R(2)=0.80, SEE=3.7%, P<0.05). In analogy, the association was evaluated for both genders separately. In women, %BF and physical activity were significantly associated (P<0.001). In men, %BF was only associated with physical activity when seasonality was taken into account as well (P