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Background: Monitoring population physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior over time is important to guide public health actions. The objective of this study was to investigate the changes in PA and sedentary behavior of adult residents in Luxembourg over 10 years. We also investigated variations in change over time across sociodemographic subgroups. Methods: Two population-based cross-sectional studies of adults living in Luxembourg (Observation of Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Luxembourg [ORISCAV-LUX] [2007–2008] and ORISCAV-LUX 2 [2016–2018]) were considered. Multilevel mixed-effects models were used to investigate changes over time between the studies with regard to self-reported total PA (metabolic equivalent of task-min/week), PA levels (inactive/sufficiently active/highly active), total sitting time, recreational television viewing, and personal computer (PC) use outside of work (in minutes per day). Results: The ORISCAV-LUX study included 1318 participants and the ORISCAV-LUX 2 study involved 1477 participants; 573 adults took part in both studies. The proportion of participants categorized as highly active increased over time by 6.9%. Total PA (761 metabolic equivalent of task-min/wk), television viewing (12 min/d), and PC use outside of work (13 min/d) also increased, whereas the total sitting time decreased by 25 minutes per day. Variations in change over time were observed by sex, country of birth, education, employment status, and perceived financial difficulty. Conclusions: Over a 10-year period, PA increased and total sitting time decreased in adults living in Luxembourg. With regard to specific sedentary behaviors, television viewing, and PC use outside of work increased. Specific population subgroups will benefit the most from targeted efforts to increase PA and minimize sedentary behavior.

Aim: To examine whether changes in public open spaces (POS) were associated with leisure-time walking (LTW) between 2014 and 2021. Methods: The sample comprised a prospective cohort of individuals living in São Paulo City, Brazil. The baseline sample was collected in 2014/2015 (4042 people aged 12 y or older) and the second wave in 2020/2021 (1431 people aged 18 y or older, 35.4% of total). Changes in POS scores in 500-m network buffers were based on household address, including positive or negative maintenance and increases or decreases in parks, public squares, and bike paths between 2015 and 2020. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to evaluate LTW in the baseline and second wave. To examine the association of LTW with changes in POS, we used multilevel models in 4 levels: health administration areas, census tracts, individuals, and observations of individuals. The exposure was the POS tertiles, and the outcome was LTW. Results: Changes in LTW prevalence were observed in both periods and according to POS tertiles distributions. When adjusted for time (baseline/second wave), gender, education, and age, the highest POS tertile was significantly associated with a high likelihood for LTW (odds ratio = 1.44; 95% confidence interval, 1.03–2.02). Conclusion: The results showed that people in São Paulo who lived within 500-m buffers with the highest access to POS were more likely to practice LTW between 2014/2015 and 2020/2021. These results have important implications for policies that were implemented in 2014, including the New Master Plan to contribute to São Paulo’s good ranking among healthy cities.

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.