Relationships between Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors and Body Composition among Administrative Staffs in Debre Markos University, Ethiopia

Abstract

Healthy lifestyles enhance lifelong health, increase quality of life, and decrease morbidity and mortality associated with the development of chronic diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between body composition and healthy lifestyle behaviors (HLBs). The study design was a cross-sectional study design, 332(174 male and 158 women) administrative staff were included in the study by using a simple random sampling technique. HLB Questionnaire for HLBs and skinfold caliper for body composition were used as data collection tools. The data were analyzed with, simple descriptive statics, Pearson’s correlation, and linear regression through IBM SPSS software, version 24. The majority of study subjects 174 (57.6%) were over-fat or obese. From the six dimensions of HLBs; the participants received the highest scores in health responsibility, spiritual development, and interpersonal relation of sub-dimensions; the lowest mean scores were in physical activity habit, stress management, and nutritional habit. The study also found a significant negative correlation (r = -0.69, P<0. 001) between overall HLBs and body fat percentage (BFP). Concerning the effect of HLBs and socio-demographic characteristics on body composition jointly explained the 32 % variation in BFP. Health responsibility, physical activity habits, and nutritional habits have a statistically significant inverse association with body fat percentage and body mass index. The independent variables (components of HLBs) significantly predict the body fat percentage: F (6, 295) = 18.73, p < 0.001, body mass index: F (6, 295) = 30.44, p < 0.001, and body weight: F (6, 295) = 16.8, p < 0.001 (i.e., the regression models are a good fit of the data). This study attests there was a significant correlation between overall HLBs and body composition parameters. Subdimensions of healthy lifestyle behavior and socio-demographic characteristics of participants had significant effects on body composition parameters. To sum up, from healthy lifestyle behavior domains, physical activity, nutrition, and physical activity habits were the dominant factors that highly affect body composition.