2023-04-25 02:00:37
More than 80% of young people worldwide do not move enough. The result: the risk of an increase in heart mass increases threefold.
In adolescents, sedentary time can increase heart size three times more than moderate to vigorous physical activity. British and Finnish researchers examined the associations of sedentary time, light physical activity, and moderate to vigorous physical activity with heart structure and function. The study results they published im Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports.
Recent reports and guidelines from the World Health Organization state that more than 80% of young people worldwide do not get enough physical activity on a daily basis. Physical inactivity has been linked to several non-communicable diseases in adults, such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer.
Backlog demand in terms of evidence
In the pediatric population, most studies of physical activity have focused on the effects of sedentary behavior and physical activity on cardiometabolic health, which includes blood pressure, insulin resistance, blood lipids, and body mass index.
Due to the lack of device-measured exercise behavior and echocardiographic assessment in children and adolescents, there has been a knowledge gap about the effects of sedentary time and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity on cardiac structure and function in these populations. A higher left ventricular mass, indicative of an enlarged or hypertrophied heart, and reduced left ventricular function, which Decreased heart function can, in combination or independently, lead to an increased risk of heart failure, myocardial infarction, stroke and lead to premature cardiovascular death.
Sit 8 hours, move 49 minutes
The current study is based on data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children and includes 530 adolescents aged 17 years. Complete measurements of fat mass, muscle mass, glucose and lipids were taken from these. In addition, the researchers noted inflammatory markers, insulin levels, smoking status, socioeconomic status, family histories of cardiovascular disease, echocardiographic measurements of cardiac function and structure. Sedentary time, light physical activity, and moderate to vigorous physical activity were also recorded using an accelerometer-based measurement.
On average, teens in this new study spent nearly 8 hours a day doing sedentary physical activity and about 49 minutes a day doing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Both sedentary time and moderate to vigorous physical activity were observed to be associated with higher left ventricular mass. The increase in heart mass (3.8 g/m2,7) associated with sedentary time was three times higher than the increase in heart mass (1.2 g/m2,7) associated with moderate to vigorous physical activity. This finding was observed in adolescents regardless of their obesity status, ie also in adolescents of normal weight and those who were overweight or obese. Importantly, light physical activity was not associated with an increase in heart mass, but with better heart function, which was estimated using left ventricular diastolic function.
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“This novel evidence advances our knowledge of the adverse effects of sedentary time on heart health. In adults it is known that an increase in heart mass of 5 g/m2 can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and death by 7 to 20%. Moderate to vigorous physical activity also slightly enlarged the heart, but it seems to be an acceptable negative side effect when considering several other health benefits of moderate to vigorous exercisesays Andrew Agbaje, a doctor and clinical epidemiologist at the University of Eastern Finland.
Die Experts are therefore promoting public health and appealing to health politicians, school administrators and teachers, pediatricians and carers to make it easier for young people to participate in physical activity.
This text is based on a press release from the University of Eastern Finland. Here you can find the original publication.
Image source: Mikael Kristenson, unsplash
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