High Levels of Glycated Hemoglobin (HbA1c) Are Associated with Physical Inactivity, and Part of This Association Is Mediated by Being Overweight

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated substantial changes in the lives of the population, such as increased physical inactivity, which can lead to being overweight and, consequently, repercussions on glucose homeostasis. A cross-sectional study based on the adult population of Brazil was conducted by stratified, multistage probability cluster sampling (October and December 2020). Participants were classified as physically active or inactive during leisure time according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization. HbA1c levels were categorized as normal (≤6.4%) or with glycemic changes (≥6.5%). The mediating variable was being overweight (overweight and obese). Descriptive, univariate, and multivariate logistic regression analyses examined the association between physical inactivity and glycemic changes. Mediation was analyzed using the Karlson–Holm–Breen method to verify the influence of being overweight on the association. We interviewed 1685 individuals, mostly women (52.4%), 35–59 years old (45.8%), race/ethnicity brown (48.1%), and overweight (56.5%). The mean HbA1c was 5.68% (95% CI: 5.58–5.77). Mediation analysis verified that physically inactive participants during leisure time were 2.62 times more likely to have high levels of HbA1c (OR: 2.62, 95% CI: 1.29–5.33), and 26.87% of this effect was mediated by over-weight (OR: 1.30: 95% CI: 1.06–1.57). Physical inactivity at leisure increases the chances of high levels of HbA1c, and part of this association can be explained by being overweight.