Association between body mass index structure and physical activity, sleep, sedentary behavior, mental health, emotional intelligence

Abstract

Growing evidence-based research indicates that various forms and amounts of physical activity (PA) are effective in combating many chronic diseases, improving well-being and mental health, and reducing all-cause mortality. The effect of PA on various body functions is rather specific; i.e., it depends on the non-linear manner of muscle work intensity, duration, and load “doses” and individual’s age, gender, health, and BMI. To determine how the body mass index (BMI) structure (underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obesity grades I and II) is associated with the physical activity (PA) structure (light physical activity (LPA), moderate physical activity (MPA), and vigorous physical activity (VPA), sleep, sedentary behavior (SB), eating habits, stress, depression, health, and emotional intelligence (EI). We surveyed 8,759 people (6,400 women and 2,359 men) aged between 18 and 74 years. We used Danish PA Questionnaire, 10-item perceived stress scale, Schutte self-report emotional intelligence test. EI was higher among overweight and obese men than normal weight and underweight men. LPA in women and men, and especially VPA METs structures, SB, significantly were associated with the BMI structure, whereas sleep METs didn’t depend on the BMI structure. As BMI increases, VPA significantly decreases in men and women. We identified a significant direct correlation relationship between VPA and eating breakfast. We determined that health and stress depended on the BMI structure only among women and EI depended on the BMI structure only among men. We found that of all energy expenditure determinants VPA had the best correlation with the BMI structure among both women and men.