The study, supported by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and published in the European Heart Journal , is the first to evaluate how different movement patterns throughout the 24-hour day relate to heart health. It is the first evidence to emerge from the international Prospective Physical Activity, Sitting and Sleep (ProPASS) consortium.
Graphical summary : The hierarchy of favorable movement behaviors across the 24 h of the day suggests that spending more time in moderate-vigorous physical activity and less time in sedentary activity is more strongly associated with healthier cardiometabolic outcomes. BMI, body mass index; HbA1c, glycated hemoglobin.
Cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of mortality worldwide. In 2021, it was responsible for one in three deaths (20.5 million), with coronary heart disease being the main cause of death. Since 1997, the number of people living with cardiovascular disease worldwide has doubled and is expected to continue to rise.
In this study, UCL researchers analyzed data from six studies, covering 15,246 people from five countries, to see how movement behavior throughout the day is associated with heart health, measured by six common indicators. Each participant wore a wearable device on her thigh to measure her activity 24 hours a day and her heart health was measured.
The researchers identified a hierarchy of behaviors that make up a typical 24-hour day, with time spent engaging in moderate-vigorous activity providing the greatest benefit to heart health, followed by light activity, standing and sleeping, in comparison with the adverse impact of sedentary behavior.
The team modeled what would happen if an individual switched various amounts of one behavior for another each day for a week, to estimate the effect on heart health for each scenario. When replacing sedentary behavior, just five minutes of moderate-vigorous activity had a noticeable effect on heart health.
For a 54-year-old woman with an average BMI of 26.5, for example, a 30-minute change resulted in a 0.64 decrease in BMI, representing a 2.4% difference. Replacing 30 minutes of daily sitting or lying down with moderate or vigorous exercise could also result in a 2.5 cm (2.7%) decrease in waist circumference or a 1.33 mmol/mol (3.6%) decrease. ) in glycosylated hemoglobin.
Dr Jo Blodgett, first author of the study from UCL Surgery & Interventional Science and the Institute of Sport, Exercise & Health, said: "The big takeaway from our research is that while small changes in the way you move can have a positive effect on the heart For health, the intensity of movement is important. The most beneficial change we saw was replacing sitting with a moderate to vigorous activity, which could be running, brisk walking or climbing stairs, basically any activity that increases your heart rate and makes you breathe faster, even if it’s just for a minute or two.
The researchers noted that while time spent doing vigorous activity was the fastest way to improve heart health, there are ways it can benefit people of all abilities; The only thing that happens is that the lower the intensity of the activity, the more time it takes to start having a tangible benefit . Using a standing desk for a few hours a day instead of a sitting desk, for example, is a change that requires a relatively large amount of time, but it’s also a change that could be integrated into a work routine quite easily, since which does not require time. commitment.
It was also found that those who are less active gain the most benefit from switching from sedentary to more active behaviors.
Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, co-lead author of the study from the Charles Perkins Center and the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney, said: "A key novelty of the ProPASS consortium is the use of wearable devices that better differentiate types of physical activity." . activity and posture, allowing us to estimate the health effects of even subtle variations more accurately."
Although the findings cannot infer causality between movement behaviors and cardiovascular outcomes, they contribute to a growing body of evidence linking moderate to vigorous physical activity for 24 hours with improved body fat metrics. More long-term studies will be crucial to better understand the associations between movement and cardiovascular outcomes.
Professor Mark Hamer, co-lead author of the study from UCL Surgery & Interventional Science and the Institute of Sport, Exercise & Health, said: "While it is not surprising that becoming more active is beneficial for heart health, what’s new in this "The study is looking at a variety of behaviors throughout the 24-hour day. This approach will ultimately allow us to provide personalized recommendations for people to be more active in ways that are appropriate for them."
James Leiper, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: "We already know that exercise can have real benefits for cardiovascular health and this encouraging research shows that small adjustments to your daily routine could reduce your chances of having a heart attack. This study shows that replacing even a few minutes of sitting with a few minutes of moderate activity can improve BMI, cholesterol, waist size, and have many more physical benefits.
"Being active isn’t always easy, and it’s important to make changes that you can stick to long-term and enjoy; anything that gets your heart rate up can help. Incorporate ’activity snacks,’ like walking while taking phone calls or setting an alarm to get up and do a few jumping jacks every hour is a great way to start incorporating activity into your day and get into the habit of living a healthy, active lifestyle."
Conclusions Analyzes of compositional data revealed a distinct hierarchy of behaviors. Moderate-vigorous physical activity demonstrated the strongest and most time-efficient protective associations with cardiometabolic outcomes. The theoretical benefits of reallocating sedentary behavior to sleeping, standing, or light physical activity required substantial changes in daily activity. |
This research was funded by the British Heart Foundation.
*The studies were part of the Prospective Physical Activity, Sitting and Sleep (ProPASS) consortium. Heart health was measured using six outcomes: body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, HDL cholesterol, HDL-to-total cholesterol ratio, triglycerides, and HbA1c.
