TY - JOUR
T1 - Significant Associations Between Sun Exposure and Adiposity Were Not Observed in Breast and Prostate Cancer Patients in a Cross-sectional Analysis
AU - Zhang, Gary D.
AU - Black, Lucinda J.
AU - Cooper, Matthew N.
AU - Lucas, Robyn M.
AU - Gorman, Shelley
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 American Society for Photobiology
PY - 2019/11/1
Y1 - 2019/11/1
N2 - Obesity is a significant health problem worldwide. Exposure to low-dose ultraviolet radiation (like that in sunlight) suppresses the development of obesity in mice; however, the nature of the associations between sun exposure and adiposity is not well understood in humans. The present study characterized cross-sectional relationships between sun exposure and adiposity in a convenience cohort of breast (n = 269; mean age = 58 years) and prostate (n = 78; mean age = 69 years) cancer patients. Participants were enrolled in a 3-month exercise program in Perth, Australia. Self-reported questionnaires measured time spent outdoors (previous week, winter and summer), sex, age, treatment received and physical activity levels. Adiposity measures included body mass index, waist-hip ratio and body fat percentage (measured via DXA). In unadjusted models, greater time spent outdoors across all times was significantly associated with lower waist-hip ratio, while greater time spent outdoors in the last winter was associated with lower body fat percentage, but not when stratified by sex. There were no statistically significant associations between time spent outdoors and adiposity after adjusting for sex, age, treatments received and physical activity. Longitudinal studies in larger populations may elucidate significant associations not found in our study due to the cross-sectional design and power limitations.
AB - Obesity is a significant health problem worldwide. Exposure to low-dose ultraviolet radiation (like that in sunlight) suppresses the development of obesity in mice; however, the nature of the associations between sun exposure and adiposity is not well understood in humans. The present study characterized cross-sectional relationships between sun exposure and adiposity in a convenience cohort of breast (n = 269; mean age = 58 years) and prostate (n = 78; mean age = 69 years) cancer patients. Participants were enrolled in a 3-month exercise program in Perth, Australia. Self-reported questionnaires measured time spent outdoors (previous week, winter and summer), sex, age, treatment received and physical activity levels. Adiposity measures included body mass index, waist-hip ratio and body fat percentage (measured via DXA). In unadjusted models, greater time spent outdoors across all times was significantly associated with lower waist-hip ratio, while greater time spent outdoors in the last winter was associated with lower body fat percentage, but not when stratified by sex. There were no statistically significant associations between time spent outdoors and adiposity after adjusting for sex, age, treatments received and physical activity. Longitudinal studies in larger populations may elucidate significant associations not found in our study due to the cross-sectional design and power limitations.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85070965106&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/php.13145
DO - 10.1111/php.13145
M3 - Article
SN - 0031-8655
VL - 95
SP - 1433
EP - 1440
JO - Photochemistry and Photobiology
JF - Photochemistry and Photobiology
IS - 6
ER -