Association between habitual physical activity and parameters of physical fitness in postmenopausal women

Objective To evaluate the association between physical activity and the morphological, functional and physiological components of physical fitness in postmenopausal women. Methods A cross-sectional study of 162 postmenopausal women, 40-65 years of age, who verbally responded to the International Physical Activity Questionnaire applied to evaluate their level of physical activity. Physical fitness was evaluated by measuring body mass index, waist circumference, body fat percentage, maximum oxygen consumption, plasma levels of total and fractional cholesterol, triglycerides and fasting glucose, as well as blood pressure. Results Approximately 83.5% of the women were active, principal physical activities being household chores and transportation walking. Approximately 80% of the women were overweight or obese and presented a waist circumference indicative of high or very high risk for cardiovascular disease, and fat percentage above 33%. Over 50% were found to have low oxygen consumption. There were no significant differences between the groups of active and inactive women with respect to mean body mass index (p=0.43), percentage of body fat (p=0.60), hip-to-waist ratio (p=0.93), waist circumference (p=0.44), maximum VO2 (p=0.32), total cholesterol (p=0.43), fasting glucose (p=0.73), and systolic (p=0.79) or diastolic blood pressure (p=0.48). Adjusted prevalence ratios also showed no significant differences between the groups. Conclusions Habitual physical activity is not associated with variations in the components that are used to describe physical fitness. It is important to encourage physical activity and provide guidelines to ensure that it is carried out in the quantity, duration and intensity required for improving physical fitness level and obtaining health benefits.