Does duration of physical activity bouts matter for adiposity and metabolic syndrome? A cross-sectional study of older British men

Abstract

BackgroundOlder adults have low physical activity(PA) and high sedentary behaviour(SB) levels. We investigate how total volume and specific patterns of moderate to vigorous PA(MVPA), light PA(LPA) and SB are related to adiposity and metabolic syndrome (MS). Then, with reference to physical activity guidelines which encourage MVPA in bouts > =10 min and avoiding “long” sedentary bouts, we investigate whether accumulating PA and SB in bouts of different defined durations are differently associated with these outcomes.MethodsCross-sectional study of men (71–91 years) recruited in UK primary care centres. Nurses made physical measures (weight, height, bio-impedance, blood pressure) and took fasting blood samples. 1528/3137 (49 %) surviving men had ≥3 valid days (≥600 min) accelerometer data. 450 men with pre-existing chronic disease were excluded. 1009/1078 (93.6 %) had complete covariate data.ResultsMen (n = 1009, mean age 78.5(SD 4.7) years) spent 612(SD 83), 202(SD 64) and 42(SD 33) minutes in SB, LIPA and MVPA respectively. Each additional 30 min/day of SB and MVPA were associated with 0.32 (95 % CI 0.23, 0.40)Kg/m2 higher Body Mass Index (BMI) and −0.72(−0.93, −0.51) lower BMI Kg/m2 respectively. Patterns for waist circumference (WC), fat mass index (FMI), fasting insulin and MS were similar. MVPA in bouts lasting <10 min or ≥10 min duration were not associated differently with outcomes. In models adjusted for total MVPA, each minute accumulated in SB bouts lasting 1–15 min was associated with lower BMI −0.012 kg/m2, WC −0.029 cm, and OR 0.989 for MS (all p < 0.05), and coefficients for LPA bouts 1–9 min were very similar in separate models adjusted for total MVPA. Minutes accumulated in SB bouts 1–15 min and LPA bouts 1–9 min were correlated, r = 0.62.ConclusionsObjectively measured MVPA, LPA and SB were all associated with lower adiposity and metabolic risk. The beneficial associations of LPA are encouraging for older adults for whom initiating MVPA and maintaining bouts lasting ≥10 min may be particularly challenging. Findings that short bouts of LPA (1–9 min) and SB (1–15 min), but that all MVPA, not just MVPA accumulated in bouts ≥10 min were associated with lower adiposity and better metabolic health could help refine older adult PA guidelines.

Accelerometer assessed moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and successful ageing: results from the Whitehall II study

“…We found associations with successful ageing to be similar for MVPA bouts lasting less than 10 minutes and 10 minutes or more. Few previous studies reported similar association with time spent in short and long bouts of MVPA with cardio-metabolic outcomes202122 and multimorbidity23. Indeed, bouts of MVPA of at least 10 minutes are recommended for cardiorespiratory fitness648, although appropriate experimental studies to assess associations between duration spent in different lengths of MVPA bouts and health outcomes are lacking48.…”

“…To remove signals related to random wrist movement, we only retained activities lasting at least 1 minute for which 80% of the activity satisfied the 100 m g threshold criteria. In order to test the importance of length of a bout of physical activity, we identified bouts lasting 1 to 9 minutes 59 seconds and those lasting 10 minutes or more, hereafter labeled “short” and “long” bouts2021 (further details in Supplementary Methods). Time spent in MVPA bouts lasting 1 minute or more was calculated as the sum of short and long bouts.…”

“…These studies found more physical activity141516 or MVPA1517 to be associated with favorable cardiometabolic outcomes1819 and better motor1516 and cognitive1417 function. There is also some evidence to suggest that time spent in both short and long MVPA bouts is associated with better cardio-metabolic health202122 and reduced risk of multimorbidity23. However, the importance of physical activity patterns, such as the duration of physical activity bouts and their intensity, for successful ageing has not yet been examined.…”

Physical activity and not sedentary time per se influences on clustered metabolic risk in elderly community-dwelling women

“…However, it could be argued that examining accumulated time in MVPA regardless of bout lengths is more appropriate given the old age group in the current study, as maintaining longer episodes of MVPA may be more challenging in this age group compared to younger counterparts. Furthermore, a study based on a sample of older men recently showed that strength in associations between markers for metabolic risk and daily time in MVPA did not differ depending on whether time in MVPA was derived in consecutive time bouts or just accumulated over the day [33]. …”

Both Light Intensity and Moderate‐to‐Vigorous Physical Activity Measured by Accelerometry Are Favorably Associated With Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Older Women: The Objective Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Health (OPACH) Study

“…However, to more precisely determine associations between PA and disease characteristics across the spectrum of PA intensity, accelerometer‐based measures are preferable. Compared with studies using self‐reported PA, fewer studies have been published in which accelerometer‐measured PA has been related to CVD risk factors in adults . Previous studies often have included relatively small sample sizes, and few have reported results in older postmenopausal women .…”