Changes in physical activity patterns from adolescence to young adulthood: the BELINDA study

Abstract

Physical activity (PA) is recognized as a marker of health. The aim was to investigate PA differences from adolescence to young adulthood. European adolescents included in the HELENA study were invited to participate in a follow-up study, 10 years later. The present study included 141 adults (25.0 ± 1.4 years) for whom valid accelerometer data were available in adolescence and adulthood. Changes in PA by sex, weight and maternal education level were explored with interactions. Time spent in sedentary activity, light PA (LPA) and moderate PA (MPA) increased by 39.1, 59.6 and 6.6 min/day, respectively, whereas the time spent in vigorous PA (VPA) decreased by 11.3 min/day compared with adolescent VPA ( p < 0.05). Increases in MPA were greater on weekends compared with weekdays, but we found a greater decrease in VPA on weekdays compared with weekends. Moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) decreased significantly on weekdays (–9.6 min/day; 95%CI, –15.9 to –3.4), while it increased on weekends (8.4 min/day; 95%CI, 1.9 to 14.8). Significant heterogeneity was found across sexes for VPA and MVPA, with a stronger decrease in VPA in males compared with females and a significant decrease in MVPA (–12.5 min/day; 95%CI, –20.4 to –4.5) in males but not in females (1.9 min/day; 95%CI, –5.5 to 9.2). No significant heterogeneity was found to be linked to maternal education level or weight, irrespective of PA level. Conclusion : Our data suggest that the transition from adolescence to young adulthood is a critical period for lifestyle PA habits. A decline in VPA and an increasingly sedentary time were observed. The observed changes are worrying and may increase the risk of developing adverse health consequences later in life. What is Known: • The transition from adolescence to adulthood is marked by many life changes affecting lifestyle habits. Most studies tracking physical activity from adolescence to adulthood were done using PA questionnaires, which is a subjective method. What is New: • Our study bring first data on objective changes in PA patterns between adolescence and young adulthood, taking account of BMI, sex and maternal educational level. Our results suggest that the transition from adolescence to young adulthood is a critical period for lifestyle PA habits, especially for time spent on sedentary activities. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00431-023-04948-8.

Organised and non‐organised activities contribute to overall physical activity levels in adolescents and young adults with Down syndrome: a cross‐sectional study

“…Previous studies have reported that people with Down syndrome engage in less physical activity than their peers with intellectual disability (ID) and their peers without disabilities and that most do not meet physical activity guidelines including limiting sedentary time (Izquierdo-Gomez et al 2017;Shields et al 2018;Oreskovic et al 2020). The transition from adolescence to young adulthood is when physical activity levels are known to decline among young adults without disability (Vanhelst et al 2023), but limited data are available on physical activity and sedentary time during this life phase for those with Down syndrome.…”

“…The transition from adolescence to young adulthood is when physical activity levels are known to decline among young adults without disability (Vanhelst et al . 2023), but limited data are available on physical activity and sedentary time during this life phase for those with Down syndrome.…”