• Alessandra Madia Mantovani, André Oliveira Werneck, Ricardo Ribeiro Agostinete, Manoel Carlos Spiguel Lima, Jamile Sanches Codogno, Bruna Camilo Turi-Lynch, and Rômulo Araújo Fernandes.
• Postgraduate Program on Movement Sciences, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Presidente Prudente, SP, Brazil.
• Sao Paulo Med J. 2020 Jun 1; 138 (3): 201207201-207.

BackgroundPhysical activity (PA) practices seem to differ between weekdays and weekends and these pattern changes can affect body fat differently. However, previous studies did not assess the mediation effect of weekday and weekend PA on maintenance of body fat using sophisticated statistical models.ObjectiveTo analyze the mediation effect of PA during weekdays and weekends on maintenance of fat mass over a 12-month follow-up.Design And SettingLongitudinal cohort study (12 months) conducted at a public university in Presidente Prudente, Brazil.MethodsA sample of 225 adults (117 females) was used. Body fatness and fat mass were assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. PA levels were assessed using a pedometer. The statistical analysis consisted of paired-sample t tests, independent-sample t tests, Pearson correlations and mediation models.ResultsAfter 12 months, weekend PA had decreased while body composition indicators remained stable (without changes). The correlation between fat mass at baseline and follow-up was high for both sexes (men: 0.966; women: 0.941; P-value = 0.001 for both). Moreover, PA indices were inversely but moderately related to fat mass at baseline and follow-up. Lastly, weekend PA mediated the association between fat mass at baseline and follow-up (P-value < 0.05) by around 2% and 4%.ConclusionWeekend PA mediated the association between fat mass at baseline and fat mass after one year of follow-up among these adults. Further studies are required to investigate the association between physical activity, body fat and other variables such as dietary patterns and sleep time.

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