Introduction: Adolescent phase is a phase of physical, psychological and cognitive development. Studies revealed that there is always a good effect of regular physical exercise on human health. Present study was an attempt to evaluate the effect of physical activity on adiposity and body composition among Bengalee Hindu adolescent girls of Cooch Behar district, West Bengal, India.

Methods: A community based cross sectional study was conducted from April to September, 2023 among 780(urban=422, rural=358) Bengalee Hindu (10-17) years old adolescent girls of urban and rural areas of Cooch Behar district (Latitude 26o22 ́N, Longitude 89o29 ́E), West Bengal, India. Eight anthropometric measurements, height (cm), weight (kg), MUAC (cm), BSF (mm), TSF (mm), SSF (mm), SUPSF (mm), CSF (mm), were recorded by using standard procedures. The girls were divided into two groups, i.e. PE (takes part in regular physical exercise) and NPE (does not takes part in regular physical exercise).

Results: This study revealed that in both urban and rural adolescent girls, The NPE girls had significantly greater Mean height, weight, MUAC, BMI, BSF (mm), TSF (mm), SSF (mm), SUPSF (mm), CSF (mm), PBF, FM, FFM compared with PE girls. The mean differences between NPE and PE girls of all the measurements were statistically significant at the 0.05 level.

Conclusion: The present study clearly showed that, physical exercise definitely effects on adiposity, body composition and subcutaneous fat. Among both rural and urban adolescent girls, the NPE girls had significantly greater adiposity, body composition and subcutaneous fat, while PE girls showed decreased adiposity, body composition and subcutaneous fat.