Purpose . Research demonstrates that moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is associated with a reduced risk of all-cause mortality. Few studies have examined the effects of light-intensity physical activity on mortality. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the association between objectively measured light-intensity physical activity and all-cause mortality risk.

Design . Longitudinal. Setting . National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003-2006 with follow-up through December 31, 2011.

Subjects . Five thousand five hundred seventy-five U.S. adults.

Measures . Participants wore an accelerometer for at least 4 days and completed questionnaires to assess sociodemographics and chronic disease information, with blood samples taken to assess biological markers. Follow-up mortality status was assessed via death certificate data from the National Death Index.

Analysis . Cox proportional hazard model.

Results . After adjusting for accelerometer-determined MVPA, age, gender, race-ethnicity, cotinine, weight status, poverty level, C-reactive protein, and comorbid illness, for every 60-minute increase in accelerometer-determined light-intensity physical activity, participants had a 16% reduced hazard of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio = .84; 95% confidence interval: .78-.91; p<.001).

Conclusion . In this national sample of U.S. adults, light-intensity physical activity was inversely associated with all-cause mortality risk, independent of age, MVPA, and other potential confounders. In addition to MVPA, promotion of light-intensity physical activity is warranted.

Physical activity has been proposed to be beneficial for prevention of depression, although the importance of exercise intensity, sex-specific mechanisms, and duration of the effects need to be clarified. Using an observational study design, following 395,369 individuals up to 21 years we studied whether participation in an ultralong-distance cross-country ski race was associated with lower risk of developing depression. Skiers (participants in the race) and matched non-skiers from the general population (non-participants in the race) were studied after participation (same year for non-participation) in the race using the Swedish population and patient registries. The risk of depression in skiers (n = 197,685, median age 36 years, 38% women) was significantly lower, to nearly half of that in non-skiers (adjusted hazard ratio, HR 0.53) over the follow-up period. Further, a higher fitness level (measured as the finishing time to complete the race, a proxy for higher exercise dose) was associated with lower incidence of depression in men (adjusted HR 0.65), but not in women. Our results support the recommendations of engaging in physical activity as a preventive strategy decreasing the risk for depression in both men and women. Furthermore, the exercise could reduce risk for depressionin a dose-dependent matter, in particular in males.

An increasing body of evidence suggests that age-related immune changes and chronic inflammation contribute to cancer development. Recognizing that exercise has protective effects against cancer, promotes immune function, and beneficially modulates inflammation with ageing, this review outlines the current evidence indicating an emerging role for exercise immunology in preventing and treating cancer in older adults. A specific focus is on data suggesting that muscle- derived cytokines (myokines) mediate anti-cancer effects through promoting immunosurveillance against tumourigenesis or inhibiting cancer cell viability. Previous studies suggested that the exercise-induced release of myokines and other endocrine factors into the blood increases the capacity of blood serum to inhibit cancer cell growth in vitro. However, little is known about whether this effect is influenced by ageing. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men. We therefore examined the effects of serum collected before and after exercise from healthy young and older men on the metabolic activity of androgen-responsive LNCaP and androgen-unresponsive PC3 prostate cancer cells. Exercise-conditioned serum collected from the young group did not alter cell metabolic activity, whereas post-exercise serum (compared with pre-exercise serum) from the older men inhibited the metabolic activity of LNCaP cancer cells. Serum levels of candidate cancer-inhibitory myokines oncostatin M and osteonectin increased in both age groups following exercise. Serum testosterone increased only in the younger men postexercise, potentially attenuating inhibitory effects of myokines on the LNCaP cell viability. The data from our study and the evidence in this review suggest that mobilizing serum factors and immune cells may be a key mechanism of how exercise counteracts cancer in the older population.

OBJECTIVE:Emerging research suggests that aerobic-based physical activity may help to promote survival among chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients. However, the extent to which engagement in resistance training on survival among chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients is relatively unknown. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the independent associations of muscle strengthening activities on all-cause mortality among a national sample of U.S. adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. We hypothesize that muscle strengthening activities will be inversely associated with all-cause mortality.

METHODS:Data from the 2003-2006 NHANES were employed, with follow-up through 2011. Aerobic-based physical activity was objectively measured via accelerometry, muscle strengthening activities engagement was assessed via self-report, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was assessed via physician-diagnosis.

RESULTS:Analysis included 385 adults (20 + yrs) with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, who represent 13.3 million chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients in the USA. The median follow-up period was 78 months (IQR=64-90), with 82 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients dying during this period. For a two muscle strengthening activity sessions/week increase (consistent with national guidelines), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients had a 29% reduced risk of all-cause mortality (HR=0.71; 95% CI: 0.51-0.99; P = 0.04).

CONCLUSION:Participation in muscle strengthening activities, independent of aerobic-based physical activity and other potential confounders, is associated with greater survival among chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients.

Physical activity (PA) is linked to reduced risk of depression, but research on the objectively measured PA in clinically diagnosed adult outpatients with major depressive disorder (MDD) is scarce. This study aimed to examine relationships of objectively measured PA with depression and mood. A total of 19 outpatients (6 males) with MDD, a mean age of 47.79± 11.67 years and mild-moderate depression participated in the study. To record PA, participants wore a triaxial accelerometer device on the right hip during waking hours for seven consecutive days. Depression and mood were assessed with self-reports immediately after day seven. Participants wore the accelerometers for a high number of days (M = 6.26 ± 1.24 days) and hours per day (13.40 ± 2.61 h), recording light (266.01 ± 100.74 min/day) or moderate (31.19 ± 24.90 min/day) PA, and sedentary time (515.33 ± 155.71 min/day). Stepwise regression analysis yield a significant prediction (p < .05) with only moderate PA contributing to the prediction of depression (Beta = -0.47, p < .05). The model explained 22% of the variance of depression. Our findings provide valuable preliminary evidence regarding the relationship between objectively measured PA and lower depression in clinically diagnosed outpatients with MDD, suggesting moderate PA may help alleviating depressive symptoms.

Major depressive disorder (MDD), schizophrenia (SCH), Alzheimer's disease (AD), and Parkinson's disease (PD) are devastating neurological disorders, which increasingly contribute to global morbidity and mortality. Although the pathogenic mechanisms of these conditions are quite diverse, chronic neuroinflammation is one underlying feature shared by all these diseases. Even though the specific root causes of these diseases remain to be identified, evidence indicates that the observed neuroinflammation is initiated by unique pathological features associated with each specific disease. If the initial acute inflammation is not resolved, a chronic neuroinflammatory state develops and ultimately contributes to disease progression. Chronic neuroinflammation is characterized by adverse and non-specific activation of glial cells, which can lead to collateral damage of nearby neurons and other glia. This misdirected neuroinflammatory response is hypothesized to contribute to neuropathology in MDD, SCH, AD, and PD. Physical activity (PA), which is critical for maintenance of whole body and brain health, may also beneficially modify neuroimmune responses. Since PA has neuroimmune-modifying properties, and the common underlying feature of MDD, SCH, AD, and PD is chronic neuroinflammation, we hypothesize that PA could minimize brain diseases by modifying glia-mediated neuroinflammation. This review highlights current evidence supporting the disease-altering potential of PA and exercise through modifications of neuroimmune responses, specifically in MDD, SCH, AD and PD.

Physical activity has been positively associated with gray-matter integrity. In contrast, pro-inflammatory cytokines seem to have negative effects on the aging brain and have been related to dementia. It was investigated whether an inactive lifestyle and high levels of inflammation resulted in smaller gray-matter volumes and predicted cognitive decline across 6 years in a population-based study of older adults (n = 414). Self-reported physical activity (fitness-enhancing, health-enhancing, inadequate) was linked to gray-matter volume, such that individuals with inadequate physical activity had the least gray matter. There were no overall associations between different pro-and anti-inflammatory markers (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12p40, IL-12p70, G-CSF, and TNF-α) and gray-matter integrity. However, persons with inadequate activity and high levels of the pro-inflammatory marker IL-12p40 had smaller volumes of lateral prefrontal cortex and hippocampus and declined more on the Mini-Mental-State Examination test over 6 years compared with physically inactive individuals with low levels of IL-12p40 and to more physically active persons, irrespective of their levels of IL-12p40. These patterns of data suggested that inflammation was particularly detrimental in inactive older adults and may exacerbate the negative effects of physical inactivity on brain and cognition in old age. Hum Brain Mapp, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

IMPORTANCE:Women with a history of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) are at substantially increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The identification of important modifiable factors could help prevent T2DM in this high-risk population.

OBJECTIVE:To examine the role of physical activity and television watching and other sedentary behaviors, and changes in these behaviors in the progression from GDM to T2DM.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS:Prospective cohort study of 4554 women from the Nurses' Health Study II who had a history of GDM, as part of the ongoing Diabetes&Women's Health Study. These women were followed up from 1991 to 2007.

EXPOSURES:Physical activity and television watching and other sedentary behaviors were assessed in 1991, 1997, 2001, and 2005.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURE:Incident T2DM identified through self-report and confirmed by supplemental questionnaires.

RESULTS:We documented 635 incident T2DM cases during 59,287 person-years of follow-up. Each 5-metabolic equivalent hours per week (MET-h/wk) increment of total physical activity, which is equivalent to 100 minutes per week of moderate-intensity physical activity, was related to a 9% lower risk of T2DM (adjusted relative risk [RR], 0.91; 95% CI, 0.88-0.94); this inverse association remained significant after additional adjustment for body mass index (BMI). Moreover, an increase in physical activity was associated with a lower risk of developing T2DM. Compared with women who maintained their total physical activity levels, women who increased their total physical activity levels by 7.5 MET-h/wk or more (equivalent to 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity physical activity) had a 47% lower risk of T2DM (RR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.38-0.75); the association remained significant after additional adjustment for BMI. The multivariable adjusted RRs (95% CIs) for T2DM associated with television watching of 0 to 5, 6 to 10, 11 to 20, and 20 or more hours per week were 1 (reference), 1.28 (1.04-1.59), 1.41 (1.11-1.79), and 1.77 (1.28-2.45), respectively (P value for trend<.001); additional adjustment for BMI attenuated the association.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE:Increasing physical activity may lower the risk of progression from GDM to T2DM. These findings suggest a hopeful message to women with a history of GDM, although they are at exceptionally high risk for T2DM, promoting an active lifestyle may lower the risk.

Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is a potential indicator of cellular aging; however, its relation to physical activity and sedentary behavior is unclear. The authors examined cross-sectionally associations among activity, sedentary behavior, and LTL among 7,813 women aged 43-70 years in the Nurses' Health Study. Participants self-reported activity by questionnaire in 1988 and 1992 and sedentary behavior in 1992. Telomere length in peripheral blood leukocytes, collected in 1989-1990, was measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The least-squares mean telomere length (z-score) was calculated after adjustment for age and other potential confounders. For total activity, moderately or highly active women had a 0.07-standard deviation (SD) increase in LTL (2-sided P(trend) = 0.02) compared with those least active. Greater moderate- or vigorous-intensity activity was also associated with increased LTL (SD = 0.11 for 2-4 vs.<1 hour/week and 0.04 for≥7 vs.<1 hour/week; 2-sided P(trend) = 0.02). Specifically, calisthenics or aerobics was associated with increased LTL (SD = 0.10 for≥2.5 vs. 0 hours/week; 2-sided P(trend) = 0.04). Associations remained after adjustment for body mass index. Other specific activities and sitting were unassociated with LTL. Although associations were modest, these findings suggest that even moderate amounts of activity may be associated with longer telomeres, warranting further investigation in large prospective studies.

BACKGROUND:Physical activity is associated with reduced cardiovascular disease risk, mainly through effects on atherosclerosis. Aortic stiffness may be an alternative mechanism. We examined whether patterns of physical activity and sedentary behavior are associated with rate of aortic stiffening.

METHODS AND RESULTS:Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) was measured twice using applanation tonometry at mean ages 65 (in 2008/2009) and 70 (in 2012/2013) years in the Whitehall-II study (N=5196). Physical activity was self-reported at PWV baseline (2008/2009) and twice before (in 1997/1999 and 2002/2003). Sedentary time was defined as sitting time watching television or at work/commute. Linear mixed models adjusted for metabolic and lifestyle risk factors were used to analyze PWV change. Mean (SD) PWV (m/s) was 8.4 (2.4) at baseline and 9.2 (2.7) at follow-up, representing a 5-year increase of 0.76 m/s (95% CI 0.69, 0.83). A smaller 5-year increase in PWV was observed for each additional hour/week spent in sports activity (-0.02 m/s [95% CI -0.03, -0.001]) or cycling (-0.02 m/s [-0.03, -0.008]). Walking, housework, gardening, or do-it-yourself activities were not significantly associated with aortic stiffening. Each additional hour/week spent sitting was associated with faster PWV progression in models adjusted for physical activity (0.007 m/s [95% CI 0.001, 0.013]). Increasing physical activity over time was associated with a smaller subsequent increase in PWV (-0.16 m/s [-0.32, -0.002]) compared with not changing activity levels.

CONCLUSIONS:Higher levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and avoidance of sedentary behavior were each associated with a slower age-related progression of aortic stiffness independent of conventional vascular risk factors.

Singapore has experienced a marked increase in colorectal cancer incidence over the past 40 years. Evidence from prospective studies in Western Europe and the USA suggests that low physical activity and high amounts of sedentary time are associated with increased colorectal cancer risk. The aim of this study is to evaluate these relationships in an Asian population. The Singapore Chinese Health Study enrolled 63 257 adults between 1993 and 1998. At enrollment, participants reported past year physical activity and time spent sitting. Incident colorectal cancers (n=1994) were identified through 31 December 2014. Cox proportional hazards models were used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) adjusted for potential confounders. Any strenuous-vigorous or moderate physical activity was reported by 13.7 and 22.1% of the cohort, respectively. Strenuous-vigorous physical activity was associated with statistically significant reduced colorectal cancer risk (HR=0.85; 95% CI: 0.74-0.99 for ≥0.5 h/week vs. none), but moderate was not. In analysis stratified by time spent watching television, an inverse relationship between moderate physical activity and colorectal cancer risk (HR=0.86; 95% CI: 0.72-1.01 for ≥0.5 h/week vs. none) was observed for those who reported atleast 3 h/day sitting watching television (Pinteraction=0.042). Participation in strenuous-vigorous physical activity, such as jogging, swimming, or heavy manual labor, was associated with reduced colorectal cancer risk among Singapore Chinese. Further research on physical activity and sedentary behaviors, independently and in combination, and colorectal cancer risk in Asian populations is needed.

The purpose of this study was to examine associations between physical activity, sleep and symptom severity in children with tic disorders. Children with tic disorders wore the GeneActiv device, a wrist-worn accelerometer that measures physical activity intensity and sleep/wake parameters continuously for seven days, and completed questionnaires on sleep quality, exercise and severity of tics, ADHD, obsessive-compulsive behaviours, anxiety and depression. 110 children participated in the study. Children with more severe tics had significantly more frequent comorbid diagnoses, greater impairment in subjective sleep measures, greater sedentary activity time and less light, moderate and vigorous activity time (all p < 0.05). There was a significant negative correlation between light, moderate and vigorous physical activity and the severity of tics (- 0.22, p = 0.04), obsessive compulsive behaviours (- 0.22, p = 0.03), anxiety (- 0.35, p = 0.0005) and depression (- 0.23, p = 0.03). Therewas no correlation between objective sleep time, sleep efficiency and symptom severity. Subjective sleep quality was positively correlated with all symptom severity measures, with the strongest correlation with ADHD severity (0.42, p < 0.00001). The results of this observational study indicate a small, but significant relationship between activity and sleep measures and the severity of the main symptom domains present in tic disorders.

Adipose tissue accumulation is an independent and modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The recent CVD European Guidelines strongly recommend regular physical exercise (PE) as a management strategy for prevention and treatment of CVD associated with metabolic disorders and obesity. Although mutations as well as common genetic variants, including theVal66Met polymorphism, are associated with increased body weight, eating and neuropsychiatric disorders, and myocardial infarction, the effect of this polymorphism on adipose tissue accumulation and regulation as well as its relation to obesity/thrombosis remains to be elucidated. Here, we showed that white adipose tissue (WAT) of humanized knock-in BDNFVal66Met (BDNF) mice is characterized by an altered morphology and an enhanced inflammatory profile compared to wild-type BDNF. Four weeks of voluntary PE restored the adipocyte size distribution, counteracted the inflammatory profile of adipose tissue, and prevented the prothrombotic phenotype displayed, per se, by BDNFmice. C3H10T1/2 cells treated with the Pro-BDNFMet peptide well recapitulated the gene alterations observed in BDNFWAT mice. In conclusion, these data indicate the strong impact of lifestyle, in particular of the beneficial effect of PE, on the management of arterial thrombosis and inflammation associated with obesity in relation to the specific BDNF Val66Met mutation.

A growing body of literature indicates a potential role for physical exercise in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Suggested effects include the reduction of ADHD core symptoms as well as improvements in executive functions. In the current review, we provide a short overview on the neurophysiological mechanisms assumed to underlie the beneficial effects of exercise. Further, we review the current evidence from experimental studies regarding both acute exercise and long-term interventions in ADHD. While the positive effects observed after acute aerobic exercise are promising, very few well-designed long-term intervention studies have been conducted yet. Moreover, although exercise effects have not yet been studied in borderline personality disorder (BPD), in the end of this paper we derive hypotheses why exercise could also be beneficial for this patient population.

Physical activity (PA) and vitamin D are thought to affect colorectal cancer prognosis. The present study investigates associations between 25(OH)D3 and PA in prospectively followed colorectal cancer patients in the ColoCare study. At 6, 12, and 24 mo after surgery, patients donated a blood sample, wore an accelerometer for 10 consecutive days, and completed a PA questionnaire. Plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D3) levels were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography. We tested associations using partial correlations and multivariate linear regression analysis, adjusted for season, age, and body mass index. A total of 137 assessments of 25(OH)D3 levels and PA were conducted (58 at 6 mo, 51 at 12 mo, and 28 at 24 mo). More than 60% of the patients were vitamin D-deficient (25(OH)D3≤20 ng/ml), independent of study time point. At 6-mo follow-up, accelerometry-based vigorous and moderate-to-vigorous PAs were positively associated with 25(OH)D3 levels (P = 0.04; P = 0.006,). PA together with season was a significant predictor of elevated 25(OH)D3 levels. Our results suggest that the majority of colorectal cancer patients may suffer from vitamin D deficiency. Engaging in PA may be an effective approach to increase their 25(OH)D3 levels.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:Only a few studies analyzed the physical activity level of elderly people living alone in local communities and evaluated the relationship between it and mental health. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between regular physical activity and depression in the elderly living alone and to provide basic data for the prevention of depression in the elderly.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:We analyzed 256 elderly people living alone aged 65 years or older who completed the 2014 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Depression was defined as a score of 10 or higher using Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). This study investigated walking per week, days of muscular strength exercise performance in the past 1 week, days of flexibility exercise in the past 1 week, mean hours in a sitting position per day, the numbers of days and hours conducting a high intensity physical activity in the past 1 week, and numbers of days and hours conducting a medium intensity physical activity in the past 1 week to define physical activity. Our study presented prevalence odds ratios (pOR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) by using complex sample logistic regression analysis in order to identify the relationship between physical activity and depression.

RESULTS:The results of complex sample logistic regression analysis showed that flexibility exercise was significantly related to depression (p<0.05). On the other hand, the mean hours in a sitting position per day, aerobic physical activity, walking, and muscular strength exercise were not significantly related to geriatric depression.

CONCLUSIONS:The results of our study implied that persistent flexibility exercise might be more effective to maintain a healthy mental status than muscular strength exercise. A longitudinal study is required to prove the causal relationship between physical activity and depression in the old age.

Regular physical activity is effective as prevention and treatment for different chronic conditions related to the ageing processes. In fact, a sedentary lifestyle has been linked to a worsening of cellular ageing biomarkers such as telomere length (TL) and/or specific epigenetic changes (e.g. DNA methylation), with increase of the propensity to aging-related diseases and premature death. Extending our previous findings, we aimed to test the hypothesis that 12 weeks of low frequency, moderate intensity, explosive-type resistance training (EMRT) may attenuate age-associated genomic changes. To this aim, TL, global DNA methylation, TRF2, Ku80, SIRT1, SIRT2 and global protein acetylation, as well as other proteins involved in apoptotic pathway (Bcl-2, Bax and Caspase-3), antioxidant response (TrxR1 and MnSOD) and oxidative damage (myeloperoxidase) were evaluated before and after EMRT in whole blood or peripheral mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of elderly subjects. Our findings confirm the potential of EMRT to induce an adaptive change in the antioxidant protein systems at systemic level and suggest a putative role of resistance training in the reduction of global DNA methylation. Moreover, we observed that EMRT counteracts the telomeres' shortening in a manner that proved to be directly correlated with the amelioration of redox homeostasis and efficacy of training regime, evaluated as improvement of both muscle's power/strength and functional parameters.

OBJECTIVE:This study investigated the association between sedentary behavior (SB) and anxiety, and explored factors that influence this relationship in six low- and middle-income countries.

METHOD:Cross-sectional data were analyzed from the World Health Organization's Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health. Multivariable linear and logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess the association between anxiety and self-reported SB. Potentially influential factors were examined with mediation analysis.

RESULTS:The sample consisted of 42,469 adults aged≥18years (50.1% female; mean age 43.8years). After adjusting for sociodemographics and country, people with anxiety engaged in 24 (95%CI=7-41) more minutes per day of SB than non-anxious individuals; the corresponding figure for the elderly (≥65years) was much higher (55min; 95% CI=29-81). Anxiety was associated with a 2.0 (95%CI=1.5-2.7) times higher odds for high SB (i.e., ≥8h/day). Overall, the largest proportion of the high SB-anxiety relationship was explained by mobility limitations (46.8%), followed by impairments in sleep/energy (44.9%), pain/discomfort (31.7%), disability (27.0%), cognition (13.3%), and physical activity levels (6.3%).

CONCLUSIONS:Anxiety was significantly associated with high SB, particularly among older adults. Future longitudinal studies are warranted to disentangle the potentially complex interplay of factors that may influence the anxiety-SB relationship.

Cognitive decline leading to dementia represents a global health burden. In the absence of targeted pharmacotherapy, lifestyle approaches remain the best option for slowing the onset of dementia. However, older adults spend very little time doing moderate to vigorous exercise and spend a majority of time in sedentary behavior. Sedentary behavior has been linked to poor glycemic control and increased risk of all-cause mortality. Here, we explore a potential link between sedentary behavior and brain health. We highlight the role of glycemic control in maintaining brain function and suggest that reducing and replacing sedentary behavior with intermittent light-intensity physical activity may protect against cognitive decline by reducing glycemic variability. Given that older adults find it difficult to achieve current exercise recommendations, this may be an additional practical strategy. However, more research is needed to understand the impact of poor glycemic control on brain function and whether practical interventions aimed at reducing and replacing sedentary behavior with intermittent light intensity physical activity can help slow cognitive decline.

Background: Emerging work is starting to investigate the cumulative effects of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), sedentary behavior and cardiorespiratory fitness on health. The objective of this study was to examine the cumulative and independent associations of MVPA, sedentary behavior and cardiorespiratory fitness on leukocyte telomere length (LTL).

Methods: Data from the 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were used (N = 1868 adults 20+ years); analyzed in 2016. Sedentary behavior and MVPA were subjectively assessed with cardiorespiratory fitness determined from a submaximal treadmill-based test; participants were classified as above or below the median values for each of these three parameters. A blood sample was obtained from each participant to assess LTL via quantitative polymerase chain reaction, with participants grouped into LTL tertiles.

Results: Participants who engaged in higher MVPA, sat less and had higher cardiorespiratory fitness had an increased odds (ranging from 85% to 105%) of being in LTL tertile 3 (vs. 1). In an extended adjusted multinomial logistic regression model, only MVPA was positively associated with LTL (odds ration [OR] = 1.37; 95% CI: 0.99-1.90; P = 0.05).

Conclusion: All three behavior characteristics, but particularly MVPA, may be important in preserving LTLs.