Relationship of physical activity and eating behaviour with obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus: Sofia Lifestyle (SLS) study

Physical inactivity and excessive food consumption play a major role in the etiology of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship of physical activity (PA) and eating behaviour with obesity and T2DM in citizens of Sofia, Bulgaria. A total of 511 randomly chosen participants completed a validated questionnaire concerning age, body height and weight, medical history, and motivation for a lifestyle change. The Baecke PA questionnaire and the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire were also completed. Body mass index (BMI) was significantly higher among subjects in the lowest compared with the middle (P = 0.002) and with the highest tertile of leisure time PA (P < 0.001), also between the lowest and the highest tertile group of sport PA (P = 0.001). BMI differed significantly in the highest vs. the middle (P = 0.04), as well as vs. the lowest (P= 0.017) tertile of uncontrolled eating behaviour. The prevalence of T2DM was significantly greater in the lowest vs. the middle (P = 0.027) and the highest (P = 0.02) tertile of leisure time PA. In a multiple regression analysis both leisure time PA and uncontrolled eating were independently associated with BMI (beta = -0.13, 95% CI -1.83 to -0.11, P = 0.03 and beta = 0.32, 95% CI 0.23 to 0.44, P < 0.001). We found a strong inverse relationship between the level of PA during leisure time (including sport), BMI, and the prevalence of T2DM. Uncontrolled eating behaviour was also found to have a significant effect on BMI.