Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Valerie Carson co-authored two papers on physical activity that were recently published. The first paper, “Years of life gained due to leisure-time physical activity in the U.S.,” was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The second paper, “Physical activity intensity and cardiometabolic risk in youth,” was published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. Citation information is below.
Janssen I, Carson V, Lee I-M, Katzmarzyk PT, Blair SN. Years of life gained due to leisure-time physical activity in the U.S. Am J Prev Med 2013; 44(1): 23-29.
ABSTRACT: Background: Physical inactivity is an important modifıable risk factor for noncommunicable disease. The degree to which physical activity affects the life expectancy of Americans is unknown. Purpose: This study estimated the potential years of life gained due to leisure-time physical activity in the U.S. Methods: Data fromtheNationalHealth andNutrition Examination Survey (2007–2010);National Health Interview Study mortality linkage (1990–2006); and U.S. Life Tables (2006) were used to estimate and compare life expectancy at each age of adult life for inactive (no moderate to vigorous physical activity); somewhat-active (some moderate to vigorous activity but 500 MET minutes/week); and active (500METminutes/week ofmoderate to vigorous activity) adults. Analyses were conducted in 2012. Results: Somewhat-active and active non-Hispanic whitemen had a life expectancy at age 20 years that was2.4 years longer than that for the inactivemen; this life expectancy advantage was 1.2 years at age 80 years. Similar observations were made in non-Hispanic white women, with a higher life expectancy within the active category of 3.0 years at age 20 years and 1.6 years at age 80 years. In non-Hispanic blackwomen, asmany as 5.5 potential years of lifewere gained due to physical activity. Signifıcant increases in longevity were also observed within somewhat-active and active non-Hispanic black men; however, among Hispanics the years-of-life-gained estimates were not signifıcantly different from 0 years gained. Conclusions: Leisure-time physical activity is associated with increases in longevity.
Hay J, Maximova K, Durksen A, Carson V, Rinaldi RL, Torrance B, Ball GD, Majumdar SR, Plotnikoff RC, Veugelers P, Boulé NG, Wozny P, McCargar L, Downs S, Lewanczuk R, McGavock J. Physical activity intensity and cardiometabolic risk in youth. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2012 Sep 10:1-8. doi: 10.1001/archpediatrics.2012.1028. [Epub ahead of print]
ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE To determine the association between physical activity (PA) intensities and cardiometabolic risk factors in youth. DESIGN Cross-sectional study using data from the 2008 Healthy Hearts Prospective Cohort Study of Physical Activity and Cardiometabolic Health in Youth. SETTING Rural and urban communities in Alberta, Canada. PARTICIPANTS A convenience sample of 605 youth aged 9 to 17 years. Youth were on average aged 12.1 years, 248 were boys (41%), and 157 were overweight or obese (26%). MAIN EXPOSURE Actical accelerometer-measured PA intensity. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES The primary outcome was body mass index (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) z score. Secondary outcome measures included waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, and cardiorespiratory fitness (maximal oxygen consumption [[Vdot]O2max]). RESULTS Body mass index z score, waist circumference, and systolic blood pressure decreased and [Vdot]O2max increased in a dose-response manner across tertiles of vigorous PA (adjusted P < .001). No significant differences in cardiometabolic risk factors were seen across tertiles of moderate or light PA in multivariable analyses. Achieving more than 7 minutes of vigorous PA daily was associated with a reduced adjusted odds ratio of overweight status (0.56; 95% CI, 0.33-0.95) and elevated systolic blood pressure (0.36; 95% CI, 0.16-0.79). The odds of overweight status and elevated blood pressure decreased with increasing time and intensity of PA. CONCLUSIONS Only vigorous PA was consistently associated with lower levels of waist circumference, body mass index z score, systolic blood pressure, and increased cardiorespiratory fitness in youth. These findings underscore the importance of vigorous PA in guidelines for children and adolescents.
