Television viewing time and risk of incident diabetes mellitus: the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

Aim To investigate the longitudinal association between television viewing time and risk of incident diabetes mellitus in an elderly sample of adults in England. Methods Analyses of data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. At baseline (2008), participants reported their television viewing time and physical activity level. Diabetes mellitus was recorded from self-reported physician diagnosis at 2-year follow-up. Associations between television viewing time and combined television viewing time and physical activity level with risk of incident diabetes mellitus at follow-up were examined using adjusted logistic regression models. Results A total of 5964 participants (mean ± sd age 65 ± 9 years at baseline, 44% male) were included in the analyses. There was an association between baseline television viewing time and risk of incident diabetes mellitus at 2-year follow-up (≥ 6 h/day compared with <2 h/day; odds ratio 4.27, 95% CI 1.69, 10.77), although the association was attenuated to the null in final adjusted models that included BMI. Participants who were inactive/had high television viewing time at baseline were almost twice as likely to have diabetes mellitus at 2-year follow-up than those who were active/had low television viewing time (fully adjusted odds ratio 1.94, 95% CI 1.02, 3.68), although active participants reporting high television viewing were not at risk. Conclusion Interventions to reduce the incidence of diabetes in the elderly that focus on both increasing physical activity and reducing television viewing time might prove useful

Promoting stair climbing in public-access settings: an audit of intervention opportunities in England

Objective: Introducing message prompts at the ‘point-of-choice’ (POC) between stairs and escalators increases stair choice in ‘public-access’ settings (e.g. malls). For nationwide campaigns, plentiful POCs appear needed. We audited the availability of POCs in public-access settings across England. Methods: Boundaries for 25 urban areas (population=6,829,874) were verified using Ordinance Survey maps, which showed all airports and train/tram stations. Malls and bus stations were identified from commercial listings and local authority web-pages. From September 2010-March 2011 two investigators visually inspected all venues (N=410), counting ‘true’ POCs and ‘quasi’ POCs (i.e. instances where stairs were visible from, but not adjacent to, escalators). Results: 5% of venues had ≥1 true POC (quasi POC=3%). Aggregating across areas, there was a true and quasi POC for every 243,924 and 379,437 people, respectively. There were regional variations; one area had 10 true/quasi POCs, whilst 10/24 remaining areas had none. POCs were more common in airports (4/6 venues) than malls (11/85) and train stations (4/215). Conclusion: Although public-access POCs reach sizeable audiences, their availability in England is sporadic, precluding nationwide campaigns. Interventions should be considered locally, based on available POCs. Work/community venues (e.g. offices, hospitals), where pedestrians choose between stairs and elevators, may provide greater intervention opportunities

Television viewing time and risk of incident obesity and central obesity: the English longitudinal study of ageing

Background: Research suggests television viewing time may be associated with incident obesity and central obesity in young adults. No study has investigated these associations in older English adults. The aim of this study was to investigate longitudinal associations between television viewing time and incident obesity and central obesity in a sample of older English adults. Analyses of data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. At baseline (2008), participants reported their television viewing time. Research nurses recorded obesity and central obesity by body mass index and waist circumference, respectively, at four year follow-up. Associations between television viewing time and incident obesity (BMI > 30 kg/m2 ) and central obesity (waist >102 cm men; > 88 cm women) at four year follow-up were examined using adjusted logistic regression. Participants gave full written informed consent to participate in the study and ethical approval was obtained from the London Multicentre Research Ethics Committee. Results: A total of 3777 initially non-obese participants (aged 64.8 ± 8.6 yrs, 46.4% male) were included in the analyses using BMI as an outcome and 2947 for the analyses using waist circumference. No significant associations were found between television viewing time and incident obesity. A significant association was found between watching ≥6 hrs/d of television (compared to <2 hrs/d) and central obesity (Odds Ratio 1.48; 95% confidence interval 1.07 to 2.03) after adjustment for covariables including physical activity. Conclusions: In this sample of older community dwelling English adults greater television viewing time was associated with incident central obesity, but not total obesity when measured by BMI. Interventions to reduce the incidence of central obesity in this age group that focus on reducing TV time, as well as targeting other health behaviours (eg, increasing physical activity levels, improving dietary intake) might prove useful

Prospective association of TV viewing with acute phase reactants and coagulation markers: English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

Objective: Inflammatory processes are putative mechanisms underlying the detrimental health effects of sedentary behaviour but no long-term prospective data are available. We examined the longitudinal association between TV viewing, physical activity and inflammatory markers over a 4-year follow-up period. Methods: Participants were 3612 men and women (mean age 64.1 ± 8.2 years) from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Self-reported daily TV viewing was measured at baseline and 2 years follow up. Inflammatory markers (serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein [CRP], white blood cell count [WBC], and fibrinogen) were measured at baseline (2008/09) and 4 years follow-up (2012/13). Results: On average, participants viewed TV for 5.1 ± 4.0 h/d, and there was an increase of 1.9 h/wk TV viewing over 2 years. In linear models adjusted for covariates including physical activity, TV viewing was not associated with logeCRP at follow-up (B ¼ 0.004, 95% CI, 0.001, 0.009, p ¼ 0.09) but was associated with WBC (B ¼ 0.018, 95% CI, 0.005, 0.031, p ¼ 0.006), and fibrinogen (B ¼ 0.004, 95% CI, 0.00, 0.008, p ¼ 0.035). In contrast, physical activity was inversely associated with CRP (p ¼ 0.047) and WBC (p ¼ 0.026), but not fibrinogen (p ¼ 0.22). An increase in TV viewing (of at least 1 h/d) was associated with higher concentrations of CRP (p ¼ 0.015) and WBC (p ¼ 0.05) at follow up after adjustment for covariates and baseline TV viewing. Conclusions: Physical activity and sedentary behaviour have contrasting associations with markers of low grade inflammation over 4 years of follow-up. These behaviours may be important in influencing the pro-inflammatory state seen with ageing

Changes in physical activity behavior and risk of falls over 8 years follow-up: English longitudinal study of ageing

Changes in physical activity behavior and risk of falls over 8 years follow-up: English longitudinal study of agein

Aggio et al. Respond to "Lessons for Research on Cognitive Aging"

Aggio et al. Respond to "Lessons for Research on Cognitive Aging

Mothers' perceived proximity to green space is associated with TV viewing time in children: the Growing Up in Scotland study

Objective. The aim of this study is to investigate whether mothers' perception of distance from home to green/ open spaces is associated with their child's screen time. Method. We used mother-reported data from sweep six (2010–2011) of the Growing Up in Scotland study (n = 3586 children aged 5.9 yrs) to examine associations between walking distance from home to green/open space and screen time (TV viewing time/computer use). Analyses were adjusted for age, sex and other prespecified covariates, including sport/exercise participation, mental and general health, birth weight, parental socio-economic group (SEG) and smoking status. Results. Children living the furthest distance from green/open spaces (N20 minutes' walking distance) displayed over 2 h (95% CI, 0.65 to 3.51) more weekly TV time than the reference category (b5 minutes' walking distance). Compared to children in the reference category, those in the N20 minute category had worse mental health (mean SDQ [Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire] score ± SD, 7.0 ± 4.6 vs. 8.7 ± 6.2) and general health (% fair–poor, 4.6 vs. 8.6), and were more likely to come from lower SEG households. Conclusion. Mothers' perceived distance from home to green/open spaces was associated with child's TV time at age 5.9 years

Mothers' perceived proximity to green space is associated with TV viewing time in children: the Growing Up in Scotland study

Objective. The aim of this study is to investigate whether mothers' perception of distance from home to green/ open spaces is associated with their child's screen time. Method. We used mother-reported data from sweep six (2010–2011) of the Growing Up in Scotland study (n = 3586 children aged 5.9 yrs) to examine associations between walking distance from home to green/open space and screen time (TV viewing time/computer use). Analyses were adjusted for age, sex and other prespecified covariates, including sport/exercise participation, mental and general health, birth weight, parental socio-economic group (SEG) and smoking status. Results. Children living the furthest distance from green/open spaces (N20 minutes' walking distance) displayed over 2 h (95% CI, 0.65 to 3.51) more weekly TV time than the reference category (b5 minutes' walking distance). Compared to children in the reference category, those in the N20 minute category had worse mental health (mean SDQ [Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire] score ± SD, 7.0 ± 4.6 vs. 8.7 ± 6.2) and general health (% fair–poor, 4.6 vs. 8.6), and were more likely to come from lower SEG households. Conclusion. Mothers' perceived distance from home to green/open spaces was associated with child's TV time at age 5.9 years

Physical inactivity in relation to self-rated eyesight: Cross-sectional analysis from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

Background: To assess the cross-sectional association between self-rated eyesight and physical activity behaviour in a large general population sample of older English adults. Methods: Analyses of data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Participants provided information on self-rated eyesight (categorised as: excellent/ very good/ good/ fair-poor) and their own physical activity levels (categorised as: inactive/ moderate only at least 1/ week/ vigorous at least 1/ week). Associations between self-rated eyesight and physical activity levels were examined using logistic regression. Results: A total of 6,634 participants (mean age 65.0±9.2years) were included in the analyses. In adjusted logistic regression models those with fair-poor and good eyesight were significantly more likely to be inactive than those who reported excellent eyesight (OR 2.07, 95% CI 1.58, 2.72; OR 1.59, 1.27, 1.99, respectively). Conclusion: In this sample of older English adults, those with self-rated fair-poor vision were over twice as likely to be physically inactive than those who reported having excellent vision. When consistent data has emerged, interventions to increase physical activity in those who have poor eyesight are needed

Weekday and weekend patterns of objectively measured sitting, standing, and stepping in a sample of office-based workers: the active buildings study

Background: There is a growing body of research into the total amount and patterns of sitting, standing and stepping in office-based workers and few studies using objectively measured sitting and standing. Understanding these patterns may identify daily times opportune for interventions to displace sitting with activity. Methods: A sample of office-based workers (n = 164) residing in England were fitted with thigh-worn ActivPal accelerometers and devices were worn 24 hours a day for five consecutive days, always including Saturday and Sunday and during bathing and sleeping. Daily amounts and patterns of time spent sitting, standing, stepping and step counts and frequency of sit/stand transitions, recorded by the ActivPal accelerometer, were reported. Results: Total sitting/standing time was similar on weekdays (10.6/4.1 hrs) and weekends (10.6/4.3 hrs). Total step count was also similar over weekdays (9682 ± 3872) and weekends (9518 ± 4615). The highest physical activity levels during weekdays were accrued at 0700 to 0900, 1200 to 1400, and 1700 to 1900; and during the weekend at 1000 to 1700. During the weekday the greatest amount of sitting was accrued at 0900 to 1200, 1400 to 1700, and 2000 to 2300, and on the weekend between 1800 and 2300. During the weekday the greatest amount of standing was accrued between 0700 and 1000 and 1700 and 2100, and on the weekend between 1000 and 1800. On the weekday the highest number of sit/stand transitions occurred between 0800 to 0900 and remained consistently high until 1800. On the weekend, the highest number occurred between 1000 to 1400 and 1900 to 2000. Conclusion: Office based-workers demonstrate high levels of sitting during both the working week and weekend. Interventions that target the working day and the evenings (weekday and weekend) to displace sitting with activity may offer most promise for reducing population levels of sedentary behaviour and increasing physical activity levels, in office-based workers residing in England