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Purpose: To explore how activity behaviors before/during pregnancy relate to those in later parenthood, we assessed associations between sitting and moderate-/strenuous exercise before/during pregnancy, and sedentary time (SED) and moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) 4–7 years postpartum (“later parenthood”). Methods: Longitudinal data were from the Southampton Women’s Survey, United Kingdom. Women reported time spent sitting (in hours per day), in moderate-strenuous exercise (hours per week), and in strenuous exercise (hours per week) at 3 time points before/during pregnancy (ie, preconception, at ∼12-wk and ∼34-wk gestation). From this, we derived 3 behavior trajectories for each woman. In later parenthood, women wore an accelerometer for ≤7 days (mean: 5.4 [SD: 1.8] d), which we used to derive 2 outcomes: minutes per day SED and in MVPA. Multilevel linear regression was used to explore associations between trajectories before/during pregnancy and device-measured SED/MVPA in later parenthood. Results: A total of 780 women provided valid data before/during pregnancy and in later parenthood. Consistent high sitters (vs low) were more sedentary 4–7 years postpartum (β = 39.5 min/d [95% confidence interval, 23.26 to 55.82]), as were women in groups who sat more in later pregnancy. Consistently high moderate/-strenuous exercisers (vs low) were 22% (95% confidence interval, 2%–47%) more active in later parenthood; those engaging in strenuous activity preconception tended to have higher MVPA as parents. Conclusions: Trajectories of sitting and exercise before/during pregnancy are associated with SED and MVPA, respectively, in later parenthood. Interventions to reduce sitting in pregnancy and to encourage higher intensity activity preconception may benefit maternal and child health.

Objective: To investigate the association between physical activity accumulated from early (age 22–27 y) to mid (age 40–45 y) adulthood and resting heart rate at age 41–46 years in women. Methods: Data were from 479 participants in the 1973–1978 cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health. Participants reported physical activity every 3 years from age 22–27 years to 40–45 years. Linear regression models were used to investigate the associations of a cumulative physical activity score (average physical activity across 18 y; up to 7 surveys) and changes in physical activity from age 22–33 years to 34–45 years with resting heart rate at age 41–46 years. Results: Average resting heart rate at age 41–46 years was 75 (SD: 11) beats per minute. An inverse nonlinear dose–response association between cumulative physical activity and resting heart rate was observed. Overall, accumulation of physical activity was associated with lower resting heart rate regardless of the age when physical activity was accumulated. Women in the highest tertile of physical activity at both age 22–33 years and 34–45 years had a resting heart rate, on average, 8 beats per minute lower (95% confidence interval, −11.42 to −4.69) than those consistently in the lowest tertile of physical activity. Conclusion: Accumulating physical activity, irrespective of timing, appears to provide cardiovascular health benefits for women before the transition to menopause.

Background: Little investigation of accelerometry assessed movement behaviors and physical inactivity was carried out in middle-aged and older adults in low-middle-income countries. Objective: Describe accelerometry-measured movement behaviors and prevalence of physical inactivity in middle-aged and older adults. Methods: We collected raw accelerometry data during the third visit (2017–2019) of ELSA-Brasil, a large-scale multicenter Brazilian cohort. Participants wore an ActiGraph wGT3X-BT on the waist for 24 hours for 7 days and documented sleep in a diary. Results: Nine thousand two hundred and seventy-nine participants had valid data (73.4% of the eligible cohort). Overall activity was higher for men (11.82mg; 95% confidence interval [CI], 11.7 to 11.93) than women (10.69mg; 95% CI, 10.6 to 10.77) and lower in older groups—women (−0.12mg/y; 95% CI, −0.13 to −0.11), men (−0.16mg/y; 95% CI, −0.17 to −0.14). Participants were more active from noon to midnight. Distribution of movement behaviors varied with sex and age, and sleep duration was longer in older individuals. Overall, 14.4% (95% CI, 13.7 to 15.1) were inactive, with inactivity being more frequent in women (16.4%; 95% CI, 15.4 to 17.4) than men (12.2%; 95% CI, 11 to 13). Higher rates were observed in the oldest. Retirement was associated with a higher prevalence of physical inactivity in both sexes. Conclusion: Women were less active than men. Older individuals showed a high prevalence of physical inactivity, probably related to transition into retirement. These findings strengthen evidence for public policies promoting physical activity by emphasizing the need to target women, older individuals, and those transitioning to retirement to improve and/or maintain physical activity levels throughout the course of their lives.

Background: The benefits of physical activity in health outcomes are well established. However, recent evidence suggests that benefits may differ by domain and population. Thus, we aimed to investigate the prospective association of occupational (OPA) and leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) with cardiovascular risk factors. Methods: In 1982, the maternity hospitals of Pelotas were visited daily; those live births whose families lived in urban areas were evaluated, and their mothers were later interviewed (n = 5914). In the 2004/5 follow-up (23 y old), both OPA and LTPA were measured in 4295 participants using their respective sections of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. In the 2012 follow-up (30 y old), the following cardiovascular risk factors were collected: high-density lipoprotein (in milligrams per deciliter), low-density lipoprotein (in milligrams per deciliter), triglycerides (in milligrams per deciliter), glucose (in milligrams per deciliter), and blood pressure (in millimeters of mercury). Multivariable linear regressions were performed to evaluate associations between OPA and LTPA with these specific cardiovascular risk factors. Results: In total, 3241 participants were analyzed. Our main findings suggest that there was no association between OPA and LTPA with high- and low-density lipoprotein. There were inverse associations between OPA and lower levels of triglycerides among males (β = −0.002; 95% confidence interval, −0.003 to −0.000) and positive associations between LTPA and higher levels of diastolic blood pressure among females (β = 0.111; 95% confidence interval, 0.005–0.216). Conclusion: In conclusion, our findings suggest that there was no association, or association with limited clinical relevance, of OPA and LTPA with cardiovascular risk factors in early adulthood.

Objectives: Movement behaviors and abdominal obesity are associated with higher inflammatory biomarkers. However, the role of waist circumference as a mediating factor is still unknown. Thus, our aims were to (1) test the associations between 24-hour movement behavior variables (physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep), abdominal obesity, and pro- and anti-inflammatory biomarkers; and (2) investigate whether abdominal obesity had a mediating effect between the investigated associations. Methods: This multicenter cross-sectional study included 3591 adolescents (aged 12–17 y) from 4 Brazilian cities. Waist circumference (in centimeters; at half the distance between the iliac crest and at the lower costal margin), 24-hour movement behaviors (validated questionnaire), high-sensitive C-reactive protein, and adiponectin (serum plasma) were evaluated. We used multiple mediation regression models (95% confidence interval) to determine if waist circumference mediated the association between 24-hour movement behaviors and pro- and anti-inflammatory biomarkers. Results: The results revealed that screen time and moderate to vigorous physical activity were not associated with pro- or anti-inflammatory biomarkers. However, sleep duration (in hours per day) was negatively associated with pro- (C-reactive protein, β = −0.08; 95% confidence interval, −0.38 to −0.02) and anti- (adiponectin, β = −0.31; 95% confidence interval, −2.13 to −0.12) inflammatory biomarkers. Our results also showed that waist circumference mediated the association between sleep duration and high-sensitive C-reactive protein (2.7%), and adiponectin (2.8%). Conclusion: Sleep duration was inversely associated with pro- and anti-inflammatory biomarkers, and these relations were mediated by abdominal obesity. Therefore, adolescents having healthy sleep can have implications for reducing waist circumference and inflammatory indicators.