Evaluation of Relationship Between Physical Activity and Body Mass index on Postmenopausal Women’s Health Status in Kerman Province

Menopause is one of the most sensitive events in a woman's life. Health improvement in this period can bring women a better quality of life and has many effects. This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between the level of physical activity and the level of health of postmenopausal women in Kerman Province.

A total of 536 postmenopausal women were selected from Kerman province. The Goldberg’s General Health Questionnaire was used to measure the level of health and the general physical activity questionnaire (GPAQ) was applied to determine the amount of physical activity. The formula for measuring body mass index was used for BMI. Ultimately, the Spearman, Kruskal Wallis, and Bonferroni statistics were used because the data distribution was not normal.

The amount of physical activity in postmenopausal women in Kerman Province was lower than the WHO recommended. There was a significant relationship between physical activity with the level of health (r = 259), (P≤0.001). Moreover, BMI and health level had an inverse relationship (-0.186) (P≤0.001).

Based on the results, a significant relationship was found between physical activity and general health status of postmenopausal women. Considering the effect of physical activity on health, it can be concluded that increased physical activity of postmenopausal women in Kerman Province can improve their health and BMI.