Leisure-time physical activity, sedentary behaviors, sleep, and cardiometabolic risk factors at baseline in the PREDIMED-PLUS intervention trial: A cross-sectional analysis
The results are from the first investigation conducted with baseline data from the PREDIMED-PLUS study. The most striking results from this investigation show that increasing the time spent on physical activities with moderate-high intensity (brisk walking, climbing stairs, working in the garden or performing sports) by one hour a day was associated with a 3%-6% increase in protection against obesity, diabetes, abdominal obesity and low HDL-cholesterol. In contrast, increasing the time spent watching television by one hour a day was associated with an increased presence of these cardiometabolic risk factors. Moreover, when one hour a day of watching television was replaced by one hour a day of physical activity with moderate-high intensity, the protection against these cardiometabiloc risk factors was even greater (3%-9%) than the protection observed when each activity was evaluated separately. These results show that public health strategies aimed at preventing cardiometabolic diseases are of paramount importance among adults aged 55-60. These strategies should focus on promoting physical activities with moderate-high intensity, avoiding sedentary behaviors and replacing the time spent on sedentary activities with time spent on other more active pursuits.
