Prevalence of U.S. Pregnant Women Meeting 2015 ACOG Physical Activity Guidelines

Introduction In December 2015, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) published updated physical activity (PA) guidelines for pregnant women, recommending women with uncomplicated pregnancies engage in Z20–30 minutes/day of exercise on most days/week. Previous guidelines advocated Z30 minutes/day of exercise on most days/week; updated recommendations represent a more obtainable PA target during pregnancy. Although previous estimates indicated that few women in the U.S. accrued sufficient PA during pregnancy, it is important to determine how many women meet new recommendations. This paper describes the prevalence of pregnant women meeting the 2015 ACOG PA guidelines

Progress and future directions on physical activity research among youth

There is strong evidence to support the benefits of regular physical activity for children and adolescents (heretofore referred to as “youth”). Evidence includes improved cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular fitness, bone health, body composition, and cardiovascular and metabolic health biomarkers. Importantly, physical inactivity is a modifiable risk factor for lifestyle-related chronic diseases and conditions and may track through adulthood. Because of the potential benefits and modifiable nature of the behavior, the “2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans” recommends one hour or more of daily physical activity for youth. Most of the time should be spent in either moderate- or vigorous-intensity aerobic activities and should also include muscle and bone strengthening activities. The 2010 World Health Organization “Global Recommendations for Physical Activity and Health” supports similar guidelines for youth

Performance of the ActiGraph accelerometer using a national population-based sample of youth and adults

Background: Accelerometer output may be semi-continuous or continuous in nature, which has implications on discerning non-wear and defining physical activity intensity levels. This study described field-based accelerometer performance from a surveillance sample of youth and adults. Methods: Using 2003-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data, 4,028 youth ages 6 to 17 years and 7,931 adults age > =18 years wore an ActiGraph AM7164 accelerometer for one week, providing at least 3 days of wear for > =8 hours/day. Accelerometer performance was assessed by exploring the number of different values of accelerometer counts/minute for each participant. Results: On average, youth participants had 1381 different counts/minute over 7 days (median 1360, interquartile range 1127-1623) and adult participants had 1101 different counts/minute over 7 days (median 1085, interquartile range 874-1313). For both youth and adults, when restricting to counts/minute between 0 to 4999, every possible value (in counts/minute) occurred at least once. Conclusion: The field-based data confirmed that the accelerometer used in this study allowed for continuous counts/minute through which all but the most vigorous activities would usually occur

Moves app: A digital diary to track physical activity and location

CATEGORY Fitness. PLATFORM iOS 9.0 or later, Android 4.0.3 or later. COST Free. ABOUT THE APP The Moves app (moves-app.com) was launched in January 2013. The app uses global positioning system (GPS) technology, Wi-Fi and cell towers along with samples of the smartphone’s accelerometer data to record location, physical activity (eg, walking, bicycling and running) and transit throughout the day.1 In the account settings, users can provide their email, gender, weight, height and birth year. From these assessments, the app provides an estimate of physical activity duration, distance, steps and calories expended. The Moves app graphs a storyline of the day by accounting for time spent in travel and visiting destinations. Daily routes are automatically mapped in different colours based on the type of transport (eg, walking, bicycling, and public transit). The company uses ‘commercially reasonable physical and technical safeguards to secure’ user’s data, such as using encryption using secure sockets layer (SSL), but does not guarantee the security of the data, which may be compromised by hardware or software failure or unauthorised entry or use

Is early life motor performance related to physical activity in adulthood?

Lack of physical activity is a major risk factor for non-communicable diseases worldwide, estimated to have contributed to 5.3 million or 9% of all deaths in 2008. The World Health Organization recommends for youth 5 to 17 years at least one hour daily of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and for adults at least 150 minutes per week of moderate, or 75 minutes per week of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, or an equivalent combination of the two. Identifying modifiable risk factors associated with lack of physical activity, including those factors occurring early in life, can contribute to our understanding of how to enhance population-level physical activity and reduce morbidity and mortality burden from lack of physical activity worldwide

Next Steps for Measures of Physical Activity During Pregnancy

We appreciate the recent Commentary by Guérin et al. (2018) which was designed to stimulate academic discussion among women’s health researchers regarding how best to measure physical activity (PA) during pregnancy. This topic is particularly important in light of the recent 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Scientific Report (2018). In brief, while the committee found strong evidence that moderate-intensity PA reduces excessive gestational weight gain, gestational diabetes, and symptoms of postpartum depression, questions remain regarding the impact of PA on preeclampsia, gestational hypertension, and postpartum weight loss as well as quality of sleep, quality of life, and symptoms of anxiety and depression both during pregnancy and postpartum. The committee highlighted the importance of future studies designed to elucidate the impact of varying types (e.g., leisure-time, occupational, household, transportation), intensities, and doses of PA on maternal and fetal outcomes as critical in informing clinical and public health practice

Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Retirement: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Introduction: Physical activity and sedentary behavior are major risk factors for chronic disease. These behaviors may change at retirement, with implications for health in later life. The study objective was to describe longitudinal patterns of moderate to vigorous and domain-specific physical activity and TV watching by retirement status. Methods: Participants in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (n=6,814) were recruited from six U.S. communities and were aged 45–84 years at baseline. Retirement status and frequency and duration of domain-specific physical activity (recreational walking, transport walking, non-walking leisure activity, caregiving, household, occupational/volunteer) and TV watching were self-reported at four study exams (2000 to 2012). Fixed effect linear regression models were used to describe longitudinal patterns in physical activity and TV watching by retirement status overall and stratified by socioeconomic position. Analyses were conducted in 2017. Results: Of 4,091 Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis participants not retired at baseline, 1,012 (25%) retired during a median of 9 years follow-up. Retirement was associated with a 10% decrease (95% CI= –15%, –5%) in moderate to vigorous physical activity and increases of 13% to 29% in recreational walking, household activity, and TV watching. Among people of low socioeconomic position, the magnitude of association was larger for moderate to vigorous physical activity. Among people of high socioeconomic position, the magnitude of association was larger for non-walking leisure and household activity. Conclusions: The retirement transition was associated with changes in physical activity and TV watching. To inform intervention development, future research is needed on the determinants of behavior change after retirement, particularly among individuals of low socioeconomic position. © 2018 American Journal of Preventive Medicin

Objective measurement of physical activity and sedentary behavior among US adults aged 60 years or older

Introduction: Estimates of objectively measured physical activity among older adults differ depending on the cut points used to define intensity. Our objective was to assess 1) moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), exploring differences in prevalence depending on the cut point used, and 2) sedentary behavior, among US adults aged 60 years or older. Methods: We used the most recently available accelerometer data (2003-2004 and 2005-2006) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The sample included 2,630 adults aged 60 or older who wore an ActiGraph accelerometer for 1 week. We defined MVPA using 4 cut points (≥500, ≥1,000, ≥1,500, and ≥2,000 counts/min) and sedentary behavior as fewer than 100 counts per minute. All estimates were weighted to reflect the US population. Results: The overall average counts per minute was 216. Mean MVPA ranged from 10.8 minutes per day (based on 2,000 counts/min) to 106.8 minutes per day (based on 500 counts/min). Regardless of the cut point used, MVPA was lower with each successive age group (60-69, 70-79, and ≥80) and higher among men than women. At any cut point, MVPA was highest for Hispanics and "other" racial/ethnic groups, followed by non-Hispanic whites and non-Hispanic blacks. The average time spent in sedentary behavior was 8.5 hours per day. The amount of sedentary time was greater among participants who were aged 80 or older compared to younger groups and among men compared to women. Conclusion: MVPA estimates vary among adults aged 60 or older, depending on the cut point chosen, and most of their time is spent in sedentary behaviors. These considerations and the data presented suggest more research is necessary to identify the appropriate method of setting accelerometer cut points for MVPA in older adults

Review of recent physical activity guidelines during pregnancy to facilitate advice by health care providers

Importance: Physical activity during pregnancy can offer many maternal and fetal health benefits. Objective: The aim was to summarize American, Canadian, and international recommendations published recently on physical activity during pregnancy to aid health care providers in their delivery of advice on the topic. Evidence Acquisition: A descriptive review of 3 national guidelines and 1 international guideline on physical activity during pregnancy was conducted. The guidelines included the 2019 Canadian recommendations, the 2018 United States' Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (second edition), the 2015 (reaffirmed in 2017) American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology guideline, and the 2016-2018 International Olympic Committee recommendations for recreational and elite athletes. Results: For apparently healthy women, under the guidance of their health care provider, moderate-intensity physical activity using both aerobic and muscle conditioning activities is recommended. The guidelines recommended at least 150 min/wk spread throughout the week (Canada, United States) or at least 20 to 30 min/d (American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology). Conclusions and Relevance: This summary of 4 recent guidelines can facilitate use of updated recommendations by health care providers regarding physical activity during pregnancy. More detailed evidence-based guidelines on physical activity during postpartum are needed. Target Audience: Obstetricians and gynecologists, family physicians Learning Objectives: After completing this activity, the learner should be better able to describe the most recent recommendations for physical activity during pregnancy; explain the relative and absolute contraindications to physical activity during pregnancy; and identify the warning signs for pregnantwomen to stop physical activity

Participation in specific leisure-time activities and mortality risk among U.S. adults

Purpose: This prospective cohort study examined the association between specific leisure-time activity and mortality risk. Methods: Data are from 1999 to 2006 U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys and included adults followed through December 31, 2015 (n = 17,938, representing 191,463,892 U.S. adults). Participants reported specific leisure-time activities performed at moderate-to-vigorous intensity. Walking, bicycling, running, dance, golf, stretching, and weightlifting were examined. Cox proportional hazards models (adjusted hazard ratios [aHRs]; 95% confidence intervals [CIs]) assessed the association of individual activities with the risk of all-cause mortality, CVD mortality, and cancer mortality. Results: Over a median follow-up of 11.9 years, 3799 deaths occurred. Any leisure-time walking ([aHR], 0.73; 95% CI, 0.66–0.82), bicycling (aHR, 0.73, 95% CI, 0.59–0.91), and running (aHR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.59–0.84) were associated with lower all-cause mortality compared with no participation in the specific activity. Dance, golf, stretching, and weightlifting were not associated with mortality. Comparable results were observed when activities were categorized as none, less than 60 min/wk, or 60 minutes or more/wk. Walking and running were similarly associated with the risk of CVD mortality. Conclusions: Participating in moderate-to-vigorous walking, bicycling, or running may be particularly beneficial for health and longevity