title: Association between self-reported physical activity and indicators of body composition in Malaysian adolescents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Obesity and lack of physical activity are fast becoming a concern among Malaysian adolescents.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aims to assess physical activity levels among Malaysian adolescents and investigate the association between physical activity levels and body composition such as body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and percentage of body fat.
  
  
  METHODS
  1361 school-going 13 year old multi-ethnic adolescents from population representative samples in Malaysia were involved in our study. Self-reported physical activity levels were assessed using the validated Malay version of the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children (PAQ-C). Height, weight, body fat composition and waist circumference (WC) were measured. Data collection period was from March to May 2012.
  
  
  RESULTS
  10.8% of the males and 7.4% of the females were obese according to the International Obesity Task Force standards. A majority of the adolescents (63.9%) were physically inactive. There is a weak but significant correlation between physical activity scores and the indicators of obesity. The adjusted coefficient for body fatness was relatively more closely correlated to physical activity scores followed by waist circumference and lastly BMI.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrates that high physical activity scores were associated with the decreased precursor risk factors of obesity.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Population Health (CePH), Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Malaysia. Electronic address: tintinsu03@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Tin Tin
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Centre for Population Health (CePH), Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Pei Ying
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Sim
authors.affiliation: Department of Sports Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Azmi Mohamed
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Nahar
authors.affiliation: Centre for Population Health (CePH), Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Hazreen Abd
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Majid
authors.affiliation: Centre for Public Health, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, UK.
authors.forename: Liam J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.affiliation: Centre for Public Health, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, UK.
authors.forename: Marie M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Cantwell
authors.affiliation: Centre for Population Health (CePH), Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Nabilla
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Al-Sadat
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Muhammad Yazid
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Jalaludin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D057566:Self Report; D055105:Waist Circumference
keywords: Adolescents; Body fatness; Malaysia; Obesity; PAQ-C; Physical activity; Waist circumference