ORIGINAL ARTICLE  BODY COMPOSITION, NUTRITION AND SUPPLEMENTATION 

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2020 October;60(10):1349-57

DOI: 10.23736/S0022-4707.20.10675-3

Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with body composition and insulin resistance in European adolescents: HELENA study

Katerina KONDAKIS ¹ ✉, Marios KONDAKIS ², Odysseas ANDROUTSOS ³, Stefaan DE HENAUW ¹, Marcela GONZÁLEZ-GROSS ⁴, Luis A. MORENO ⁵, Anthony KAFATOS ⁶, Yannis MANIOS ³

¹ Department of Public Health, University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium; ² Department of Statistics, Athens University of Economics and Business, Athens, Greece; ³ Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece; ⁴ Department of Health and Human Performance, Faculty of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences, Polytechnic of Madrid, Madrid, Spain; ⁵ University School of Health Sciences, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain; ⁶ Unit of Preventive Medicine and Nutrition, UoC School of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece

BACKGROUND: The present study aimed to examine the independent association between cardiorespiratory fitness, sedentary time and insulin resistance in European adolescents.
METHODS: A subset (N.=1097) of a large multicenter European study (HELENA-CSS study) was used in the present study. Serum concentrations of glucose (GF) and insulin (IF) were measured after overnight fast and homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR) was calculated. Sedentary time and time spent on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was objectively measured by accelerometers. Moreover, sedentary activities were self-reported via questionnaires.
RESULTS: Multilevel linear regression analysis revealed that adolescents watching TV≥2 h/day had higher HOMA-IR (P=0.007). Further adjustment for MVPA, showed that watching TV≥2 h/day remained significantly associated with IR (P=0.002). In this model, MVPA was inversely associated with HOMA-IR (P=0.001). Further controlling for waist circumference showed that adolescents watching TV≥2 h/day continued to have higher HOMA-IR levels (P=0.002). Stratified analysis by weight status, revealed that watching TV≥2 h/day was independently associated with HOMA-IR only in normal weight adolescents, while MVPA was inversely associated with HOMA-IR in both overweight/obese and normal weight adolescents. Only the volume of maximum oxygen consumption (VO2max) over body fat mass ratio was inversely associated with HOMA-IR after controlling for several confounders.
CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that watching TV≥2 h/day and MVPA were associated with HOMA-IR. However, after controlling for several confounders, only VO2max/body fat mass ratio remained negatively associated with HOMA-IR. Future interventions should aim both to promote physical activity and reduce sedentary time in adolescents to improve their cardiorespiratory fitness and postpone the onset of diabetes in adulthood.

KEY WORDS: Homeostasis; Adolescents; Exercise