Overweight and obesity (OW/OB) continue to be prominent health issues among adolescent girls. However, little is known about the interrelationships between physical activity (PA), cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), and OW/OB in this population. The objective of this study was to examine whether CRF mediates the relationship between PA and OW/OB in adolescent girls.
Methods:
Moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), CRF, BMI, and percentage body fat (% BF) were measured in adolescent girls (N = 1519), aged 10–14 years, from 24 urban middle schools located in the Midwestern United States. Structural equation modeling was used to determine whether CRF is a mediator of the association between MVPA and OW/OB (measured as both BMI and % BF). Multigroup analyses were used to determine whether race, puberty, or socioeconomic status moderate the mediation models.
Results:
The indirect effect of MVPA through CRF on OW/OB was significant for both BMI (p < 0.01) and % BF (p < 0.01), indicating that CRF is a complete mediator between MVPA and OW/OB. Both race and puberty significantly (p < 0.05) moderated the mediation between MVPA and OW/OB.
Conclusions:
This study demonstrates that CRF is improved by increasing MVPA, and the improvement in CRF results in lower BMI and % BF among adolescent girls.
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