Associations of mutually exclusive categories of physical activity and sedentary time with markers of cardiometabolic health in English adults: a cross-sectional analysis of the Health Survey for England

Abstract

BackgroundBoth physical activity and sedentary behaviour have been individually associated with health, however, the extent to which the combination of these behaviours influence health is less well-known. The aim of this study was to examine the associations of four mutually exclusive categories of objectively measured physical activity and sedentary time on markers of cardiometabolic health in a nationally representative sample of English adults.MethodsUsing the 2008 Health Survey for England dataset, 2131 participants aged ≥18 years, who provided valid accelerometry data, were included for analysis and grouped into one of four behavioural categories: (1) ‘Busy Bees’: physically active & low sedentary, (2) ‘Sedentary Exercisers’: physically active & high sedentary, (3) ‘Light Movers’: physically inactive & low sedentary, and (4) ‘Couch Potatoes’: physically inactive & high sedentary. ‘Physically active’ was defined as accumulating at least 150 min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per week. ‘Low sedentary’ was defined as residing in the lowest quartile of the ratio between the average sedentary time and the average light-intensity physical activity time. Weighted multiple linear regression models, adjusting for measured confounders, investigated the differences in markers of health across the derived behavioural categories. The associations between continuous measures of physical activity and sedentary levels with markers of health were also explored, as well as a number of sensitivity analyses.ResultsIn comparison to ‘Couch Potatoes’, ‘Busy Bees’ [body mass index: −1.67 kg/m2 (p < 0.001); waist circumference: −1.17 cm (p = 0.007); glycated haemoglobin: −0.12 % (p = 0.003); HDL-cholesterol: 0.09 mmol/L (p = 0.001)], ‘Sedentary Exercisers’ [body mass index: −1.64 kg/m2 (p < 0.001); glycated haemoglobin: −0.11 % (p = 0.009); HDL-cholesterol: 0.07 mmol/L (p < 0.001)] and ‘Light Movers’ [HDL-cholesterol: 0.11 mmol/L (p = 0.004)] had more favourable health markers. The continuous analyses showed consistency with the categorical analyses and the sensitivity analyses indicated robustness and stability.ConclusionsIn this national sample of English adults, being physically active was associated with a better health profile, even in those with concomitant high sedentary time. Low sedentary time independent of physical activity had a positive association with HDL-cholesterol.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-016-2694-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The cross‐sectional associations between objectively measured sedentary time and cardiometabolic health markers in adults – a systematic review with meta‐analysis component

“…Sedentary time was positively associated with body mass index (BMI) in 10 papers (six did not adjust for any PA and three became non‐significant following adjustment for MVPA ). Fourteen papers reported no association between sedentary time and BMI . Sedentary time had a positive association with waist circumference in 15 papers (four did not adjust for any PA and four associations became non‐significant following adjustment for MVPA and cardiorespiratory fitness ).…”

“…The included articles had a combined sample size of 70,576 and an age range of 18–87 years. From the included papers, 10 came from NHANES , three from AusDiab , three from the Whitehall II Study , two from HSE , two from RISC study and one each from the Generation 100 Study , EVIDENT study , Leuven Longitudinal Study on Lifestyle, Fitness and Health (LLSLFH) , Swedish CArdioPulmonary bioImage Study (SCPIS) , International Physical Activity and the Environment Network Adult Study , New Method for Objective Measurements of Physical Activity in Daily Living study , Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos and Canadian Health Measures Survey . The remaining 16 papers were all individual/stand‐alone studies .…”

A prospective examination of the impact of high levels of exercise training on sedentary behaviour

“…Three compartment body composition and per cent fat in the abdominal region were assessed via dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA; GE Lunar Prodigy, GE Health Care, Madison, WI). DXA has been shown to be a reliable and valid measure of per cent body fat (Bakrania et al, 2016; Fields, Goran, & McCrory, 2002). …”

Factors associated with obesity and metabolic syndrome in ageing black South African women

“…Evidence shows a positive association between obesity and body-size perception in adolescent African girls, and the same association between physical inactivity and body mass index (BMI). Sitting time is well known to have a positive role in adiposity [16,17], and is a good proxy measure of sedentary activities. Socio-economic status (SES) is known to have a positive association with obesity; however, its association with physical activity in African women is unknown.…”