Mayores niveles de transporte activo se asocian a un menor nivel de adiposidad y menor riesgo de obesidad: resultados de la Encuesta Nacional de Salud 2009-2010

Alex Garrido-Méndez, Ximena Díaz, María Adela Martínez, Ana María Leiva, Cristian Álvarez, Rodrigo Ramírez Campillo, Carlos Cristi-Montero, Fernando Rodríguez, Carlos Salas-Bravo, Eliana Durán, Ana María Labraña, Nicolás Aguilar-Farías, Carlos Celis-Morales

Active commuting is associated with a lower risk for obesity in developed countries. To investigate the association between active commuting and obesity risk in Chile. Active commuting was measured using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ v2) in 5,293 participants from the Chilean National Health Survey 2009-2010. Body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) were the study outcomes. The association between active commuting and obesity was investigated using linear and logistic regression analysis. Thirty four percent of responders [95% confidence intervals (CI): 32.6-35.1] were passive commuters. Active commuters had a lower BMI and WC than their passive counterparts. Thirty minutes increment in active commuting were associated with a -0.20 kg.m-2 lower BMI [95% CI: -0.33 to -0.07, p < 0.01] and a -076 cm lower WC [95% CI: -1.08 to -0.43, p < 0.01]. The odds of having a BMI > 25 kg.m-2 was 0.93 [95% CI: 0.88 to 0.98, p = 0.01] per every 30 minutes' increment in active commuting, whereas the odds for central obesity was 0.87 [95% CI: 0.82 to 0.92, p < 0.01]. Active commuting is associated with a lower adiposity and lower risk for obesity in Chilean adults.