Seasonal weight change during islamic holidays and effect of exercise on body weight and composition

Background: There are several studies evaluating weight changes during the Christian and U.S. holiday season but data on the Muslim holiday season is limited. The purpose of this study was to assess the changes in body weight, body composition and blood pressure during Islamic holiday season among exercising and non-exercising participants. Methods: The study was conducted with 63 eligible adults (30 men and 33 women; mean age 38.3 +/- 13.9y, body mass index (BMI) of 24.4 +/- 4.0 kg/m(2)). Participants who exercised for at least 150 min/week were included in the "exercisers" group (n = 30), while those performing <150 min/week were included in the "non-exercisers" group (n = 33). Subjects were evaluated before Ramadan and after Eid Al-Adha (total duration 18 weeks, early June-end of September, 2017). Data collected during each visit included height, weight, body composition, blood pressure, and physical activity level and food intake records. Results: Non-exercisers gained 0.61 +/- 0.20 kg weight (p = 0.005) while exercisers did not change weight (0.32 +/- 0.31 kg, p = 0.336) over the holiday season. Similarly, non-exercisers had an increase in body fat % (0.90 +/- 0.22%, p < 0.001) whereas exercisers showed a trend for fat loss (-0.55 +/- 0.29%, p = 0.068). The changes between exerciser vs. non-exercisers was significantly different for body weight (p = 0.015), body fat percentage (p < 0.001), and systolic blood pressure (p = 0.03). Conclusions: There was no change in weight, BMI or body fat % for exercisers during the Islamic holiday season. Meanwhile non-exercisers showed an increase in both body weight and body fat %, and that gain was different from exercisers. Our findings further validate that being physically active can prevent holiday season weight gain.