Cent Eur J Public Health 2013, 21(3):155-159 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3828

Associations between Overweight/Obesity and Physical Fitness Variables in Korean Women

Jong-Hyuck Kim1, Wi-Young So2
1 Department of Sport Education in Living, Bucheon University, Bucheon, Korea
2 Department of Human Movement Science, Seoul Women's University, Seoul, Korea

Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether physical fitness variables are related to overweight or obesity in Korean women.

Methods: From 2007 to 2011, 10,790 women aged 20-82 years visited a public health centre for evaluation of cardiovascular function, health-related physical fitness, and motor-related physical fitness. We used the definitions of overweight and obesity provided in the World Health Organization's Asia-Pacific Standard Report. Cardiovascular function was evaluated using the Resting Heart Rate (RHR) and vital capacity. Health-related physical fitness was evaluated using the VO2max measure, sit-up number, grip strength, and sit-and-reach distance. Motor-related physical fitness was evaluated using the vertical-jump distance, side-step number, and balance (standing on 1 foot with eyes open) measure.

Results: The prevalence rates of overweight and obesity were 26.9% and 28.8%, respectively. Results are presented as odds ratios (with 95% confidence intervals) after adjusting for age and number of alcoholic drinks consumed per week, cigarettes smoked per day, and exercise sessions per week. When RHR increased by 1 beat per minute, overweight prevalence was 1.012 times higher (1.007-1.017, p<0.001) and obesity prevalence was 1.006 times higher (1.000-1.011, p=0.037). When VO2max increased by 1 mL.kg-1.min-1, overweight was 0.949 times less prevalent (0.939-0.959, p<0.001), and obesity was 0.916 times less prevalent (0.906-0.926, p<0.001). As grip strength increased, overweight prevalence and obesity prevalence increased. An increase in vertical-jump distance by 1 cm was accompanied by a decrease in overweight prevalence by a factor of 0.975 (0.967-0.982, p<0.001) and a decrease in obesity prevalence by a factor of 0.940 (0.932-0.948, p<0.001).

Conclusion: Overweight and obesity were associated with poor physical fitness as assessed by variables related to cardiovascular function and health-related and motor-related physical fitness.

Keywords: obesity, cardiovascular function, health-related physical fitness, motor-related physical fitness

Received: August 14, 2012; Revised: February 1, 2013; Accepted: February 1, 2013; Published: September 1, 2013  Show citation

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Kim J, So W. Associations between Overweight/Obesity and Physical Fitness Variables in Korean Women. Cent Eur J Public Health. 2013;21(3):155-159. doi: 10.21101/cejph.a3828. PubMed PMID: 24344542.
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