Background: Examining the extent to which physical activity (PA) and body measure (BM) variables correlate is useful for the promotion of a healthy lifestyle. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the associations between PA and BM variables in a representative sample of US adults. Methods: Participants 20+ years of age from the 2017-2020 (pre-pandemic, 3.2 year) National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were used. PA variables included work (VWPA, MWPA), recreation (VRPA, MRPA), transportation (TPA), sedentary time (SED), moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), met PA guidelines status (METPA), and physical inactivity status (PIA). BM variables included body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), arm circumference (AC), BMI category (BMICAT), obese status (OBESE), and overweight status (OVWT). Spearman correlations were computed both for bivariate association and controlling for age, race, and income. Multiple logistic regression was used to examine the adjusted relationship between PA and BM categorical variables. All analyses were performed separately by sex. Results: Multivariate BM correlations were strongest for TPA and OVWT (males) and MVPA and WC (females). Adjusted models showed the odds of being obese were greatest for those reporting low (versus high) amounts of VRPA in both males (OR = 1.84, 95% CI: 1.28 - 2.67) and females (OR = 2.47, 95% CI: 1.83 - 3.34). Additionally, odds of meeting PA guidelines were greatest for those with low (versus high) WC in males (OR = 1.51, 95% CI: 1.2 3- 1.84) and low (versus high) BMI in females (OR = 2.06, 95% CI: 1.73 - 2.46). Conclusion: Results from this study indicate that PA and BM variables are related in U.S. adults prior to the COVID pandemic. Furthermore, low WC for males and low BMI for females were the stronger adjusted categorical predictors of meeting PA guidelines.

physical activity, body composition, epidemiology, population health, pre-pandemic