title: Physical sports activity during leisure time and dietary intake of foods and nutrients in a large Spanish cohort.
abstract: This study evaluated the dietary pattern of foods and nutrients according to levels of vigorous leisure time physical activity (PA) assessed at recruitment within the Spanish cohort of the European Prospective Investigation on Cancer (EPIC) study (37,287 healthy volunteers with complete information). We used a validated PA questionnaire (PAQ) to measure the weekly frequency and duration of different kinds of sport activities. For dietary assessment, we used a validated diet history questionnaire that included all items consumed with a frequency of at least twice a month. We tested differences in food and nutrient intake according to PA duration by means of both an analysis of variance and an analysis of covariance adjusted for confounding factors. Linear increases or decreases in food and nutrient intake across PA levels were tested by means of a regression analysis. Only 11% of men and 6% of women performed at least 3 hours/week of intense PA, which is similar to current recommendations. Overall, main nutrient and total energy intakes were similar across different PA levels (<2% change in total energy intake between extreme PA categories). However, the intake of some foods and vitamins did significantly (p  .05) increase as PA increased. The average gender-weighted percentage change in the intake of food and vitamins increased when moving from the lowest levels of PA to the highest. There was an increase in the intake of the following: 15.9% in vegetables, 6.7% in fruit, 9% in fish, 5.6% in dairy products, 10% in vitamin C, 5.9% in vitamin E, 7.2% in retinol, 19.7% in total carotene, 40.1% in alpha-carotene, 20.4% in beta-carotene, 11.2% in licopene, and 26.1% in lutein. BMI, which was above average for the cohort (mean +/- SD: 28.4 +/- 4.2), decreased steadily when PA increased. To sum up, in this large Spanish cohort, the differences in dietary intake relative to levels of PA were not found either in the amount of total energy consumed nor in the number of main macronutrients but rather in the intake of certain foods which, while having very little or moderate caloric content, are very rich in highly bioactive elements such as vitamins and provitamins.
authors.affiliation: Consejeria de Sanidad y Consumo, Ronda de Levante, 11 E-30008, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Maria José
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Tormo
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Navarro
authors.forename: Maria-Dolores
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Chirlaque
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Barber
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Argilaga
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Agudo
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Amiano
authors.forename: Aurelio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barricarte
authors.forename: Jose M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Beguiristain
authors.forename: Miren
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dorronsoro
authors.forename: Carlos Alberto
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mart'nez
authors.forename: José Ramon
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Quiros
authors.forename: Mauricio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rodr'guez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004032:Diet; D004034:Diet Surveys; D002149:Energy Intake; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013030:Spain; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014815:Vitamins / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D014815:Vitamins