Sedentary time and physical activity surveillance through accelerometer pooling in four european countries

Loyen, A; Clarke-Cornwell, AM; Anderssen, SA; Hagstromer, M; Sardinha, LB; Sundquist, K; Ekelund, U; Steene-Johannessen, J; Baptista, F; Hansen, BH; Wijndaele, K; Brage, S; Lakerveld, J; Brug, J; van der Ploeg, HP

Abstract

Objective: To pool, harmonise and re-analyse national accelerometer data from adults in four European countries in order to describe population levels of sedentary time and physical inactivity.

Methods Five cross-sectional studies were included from England, Portugal, Norway and Sweden. ActiGraph accelerometer count data were centrally processed using the same algorithms. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to study the associations of sedentary time and physical inactivity with gender, age, weight status and educational level, in both the pooled sample and the separate study samples.

Results Data from 9509 participants were used. On average, participants were sedentary for 530 minutes/day, and accumulated 36 minutes/day of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity. Twenty-three percent accumulated more than 10 hours of sedentary time/day, and seventy-two percent did not meet the physical activity recommendations. Nine percent of all participants were classified as high sedentary and low active. Participants from Norway showed the highest levels of sedentary time, while participants from England were the least physically active. Age and weight status were positively associated with sedentary time and not meeting the physical activity recommendations. Men and higher educated people were more likely to be highly sedentary, while women and lower educated people were more likely to be inactive.

Conclusions We found high levels of sedentary time and physical inactivity in four European countries. Older people and obese people were most likely to display these behaviours and thus deserve special attention in interventions and policy planning. In order to monitor these behaviours, accelerometer based cross-European surveillance is recommended.

Citation

Loyen, A., Clarke-Cornwell, A., Anderssen, S., Hagstromer, M., Sardinha, L., Sundquist, K., …van der Ploeg, H. (2017, June). Sedentary time and physical activity surveillance through accelerometer pooling in four european countries. Poster presented at International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, Victoria, Canada

• Presentation Conference Type: Poster
• Conference Name: International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
• Conference Location: Victoria, Canada
• Start Date: Jun 7, 2017
• End Date: Jun 10, 2017
• Publication Date: Jun 7, 2017
• Deposit Date: Apr 9, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 9, 2019
• Publisher URL: https://www.isbnpa.org/index.php?r=annualMeeting/index&year=2017
• Related Public URLs: https://www.isbnpa.org/index.php?r=article/view&id=70
• Additional Information: Event Type : Conference