Thayse Natacha Gomes, Fernanda Karina dos Santos, Daniel Santos, Raquel Nichele Chaves, Michele Souza, Peter Todd Katzmarzyk and José Maia
Objective: Physical inactivity and adiposity have relevant roles in Metabolic Syndrome (MS) expression. Given the high prevalence of overweight/obesity and low levels of Physical Activity (PA) among Portuguese children, this study intends to explore the idea of “fat-but-active” by analysing differences in MS risk factors across four distinct BMI and PA groups. Methods: The sample comprises 389 Portuguese children from both sexes, aged 9-11 years. BMI was computed from measurements of height and weight, and PA was assessed by an accelerometer for 7 days. Moderate-To- Vigorous PA (MVPA) was used to classify children as active (≥ 60 min/day) or inactive (<60 min/day). Children were divided in four groups: normal weight and active, normal weight and inactive, overweight and active, overweight and inactive. A continuous MS score (zMS) was computed from measures of waist circumference, glucose, triglycerides, HDL-cholesterol and mean arterial blood pressure. Results: There was a high prevalence of overweight (51.9%) among children, and only 35.2% were physically active. In general, the overweight and inactive group had the worst metabolic profile, while the normal weight active group had the best. Except for glucose, differences (p<0.05) were found in the metabolic indicators and for zMS across groups, but they are mainly observed between BMI groups, but not between MVPA groups. Conclusion: MVPA did not attenuate the MS risk factors in the overweight group, given that MS indicators do not differ in children of the same group when taking into account their MVPA levels. This is a significant result for public health, where strategies related to nutritional education as well as promoting PA should be used to reduce adiposity in children and decrease MS risk factors in this population.