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Assessment of the physical activity level with two questions: validation with doubly labeled water

International Journal of Obesity volume 32, pages 1031–1033 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

To validate a two-question questionnaire on physical activity with the doubly labeled water (DLW) method.

Design:

Cross-sectional study.

Subjects:

Nine volunteers, age 33–75 years, with a mean body mass index (BMI) (kg m−2) of 27.4.

Measurements:

A questionnaire with one question on physical activity at work and one question on physical activity during leisure time. The answers were converted into a PAL (physical activity level=energy expenditure/basal metabolic rate) value, which was validated with the DLW method.

Results:

The mean values (s.d.) of PAL for the questionnaire and DLW measurements were 1.7 (0.1) and 1.7 (0.1), respectively, with a mean difference of 0.004 (0.172).

Conclusions:

The results were promising to the extent that they could be used in large-scale epidemiological studies.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Linda Hagfors, Department of Food and Nutrition, Umeå University, for practical work with the questionnaires, the DLW method and the dietary history interviews.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Behaviours, The Swedish National Institute of Public Health, Östersund, Sweden

    G Johansson

  2. Department of Food and Nutrition, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

    G Johansson

  3. Department of Human Biology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    K R Westerterp

Authors
  1. G Johansson
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  2. K R Westerterp
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Correspondence to G Johansson.

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Johansson, G., Westerterp, K. Assessment of the physical activity level with two questions: validation with doubly labeled water. Int J Obes 32, 1031–1033 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2008.42

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2008.42

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