Joint profiles of sedentary time and physical activity in adults and their associations with cardiometabolic health

• Published in: Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
• Main Authors: Farrahi, Vahid, Rostami, Mehrdad, Dumuid, Dot, Chastin, Sebastien, Niemelä, Maisa, Korpelainen, Raija, Jämsä, Timo, Oussalah, Mourad
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Medicine and Health Sciences; Social Sciences; Physical Therapy; Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation; Orthopedics and Sports Medicine; METABOLIC DISEASES; ADIPOSITY; INSULIN RESISTANCE; DYSLIPIDEMIAS; WAKING ACTIVITY BEHAVIORS; Northern Finland
• Online Access: https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8772601; http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8772601; https://doi.org/10.1249/mss.0000000000003008; https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8772601/file/8772603

Purpose: This study aimed to identify and characterize joint profiles of sedentary time and physical activity among adults and investigate how these profiles are associated with markers of cardiometabolic health. Methods: The participants included 3,702 of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 at age 46 years, who wore a hip-worn accelerometer during waking hours and provided 7 consecutive days of valid data. Sedentary time, LPA, and MVPA on each valid day were obtained, and a data-driven clustering approach ("KmL3D") was used to characterize distinct joint profiles of sedentary time and physical activity intensities. Participants self-reported their sleep duration and performed a submaximal step test with continuous heart rate measurement to estimate their cardiorespiratory fitness (peak heart rate). Linear regression was used to determine the association between joint profiles of sedentary time and physical activities with cardiometabolic health markers, including adiposity markers and blood lipid, glucose, and insulin levels. Results: Four distinct groups were identified: "Active couch potatoes" (n = 1,173), "Sedentary light movers" (n = 1,199), "Sedentary exercisers" (n = 694), and " Movers " (n = 636). Although sufficiently active, Active couch potatoes had the highest daily sedentary time (>10 hours) and lowest LPA. Compared to Active couch potatoes, Sedentary light movers, Sedentary exercisers, and Movers spent less time in sedentary by performing more physical activity at light-intensity upward and had favorable differences in their cardiometabolic health markers after accounting for potential confounders (1.1%-25.0% lower values depending on the health marker and profile). Conclusions: After accounting for sleep duration and cardiorespiratory fitness, waking activity profiles characterized by performing more physical activity at light-intensity upward, resulting in less time spent in sedentary, were associated with better cardiometabolic health.