Compositional analysis of the associations between 24-h movement behaviours and cardio-metabolic risk factors in overweight and obese adults with pre-diabetes from the PREVIEW study: cross-sectional baseline analysis

Background: Physical activity, sedentary time and sleep have been shown to be associated with cardio-metabolic health. However, these associations are typically studied in isolation or without accounting for the effect of all movement behaviours and the constrained nature of data that comprise a finite whole such as a 24 h day. The aim of this study was to examine the associations between the composition of daily movement behaviours (including sleep, sedentary time (ST), light intensity physical activity (LIPA) and moderate-to-vigorous activity (MVPA)) and cardio-metabolic health, in a cross-sectional analysis of adults with pre-diabetes. Further, we quantified the predicted differences following reallocation of time between behaviours. Methods: Accelerometers were used to quantify daily movement behaviours in 1462 adults from eight countries with a body mass index (BMI) ≥25 kg·m− 2 , impaired fasting glucose (IFG; 5.6–6.9 mmol·l − 1 ) and/or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT; 7.8–11.0 mmol•l − 1 2 h following oral glucose tolerance test, OGTT). Compositional isotemporal substitution was used to estimate the association of reallocating time between behaviours. Results: Replacing MVPA with any other behaviour around the mean composition was associated with a poorer cardio-metabolic risk profile. Conversely, when MVPA was increased, the relationships with cardiometabolic risk markers was favourable but with smaller predicted changes than when MVPA was replaced. Further, substituting ST with LIPA predicted improvements in cardio-metabolic risk markers, most notably insulin and HOMA-IR. Conclusions: This is the first study to use compositional analysis of the 24 h movement composition in adults with overweight/obesity and pre-diabetes. These findings build on previous literature that suggest replacing ST with LIPA may produce metabolic benefits that contribute to the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, the asymmetry in the predicted change in risk markers following the reallocation of time to/from MVPA highlights the importance of maintaining existing levels of MVPA. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01777893)

A century of trends in adult human height

Being taller is associated with enhanced longevity, and higher education and earnings. We reanalysed 1472 population-based studies, with measurement of height on more than 18.6 million participants to estimate mean height for people born between 1896 and 1996 in 200 countries. The largest gain in adult height over the past century has occurred in South Korean women and Iranian men, who became 20.2 cm (95% credible interval 17.5-22.7) and 16.5 cm (13.3-19.7) taller, respectively. In contrast, there was little change in adult height in some sub-Saharan African countries and in South Asia over the century of analysis. The tallest people over these 100 years are men born in the Netherlands in the last quarter of 20th century, whose average heights surpassed 182.5 cm, and the shortest were women born in Guatemala in 1896 (140.3 cm; 135.8-144.8). The height differential between the tallest and shortest populations was 19-20 cm a century ago, and has remained the same for women and increased for men a century later despite substantial changes in the ranking of countries

Forming New Health Behavior Habits During Weight Loss Maintenance-The PREVIEW Study

Introduction: Changing lifestyle habits to achieve and maintain weight loss can be effective in prevention of Type II diabetes. Ability to resist temptations is considered one of the key factors in behavior change. This study examined how habit strength, motivation, and temptations for an energy-dense diet developed during the maintenance stage of a behavior modification intervention tool. Method: Participants with prediabetes and overweight/obesity were recruited in the two-phase trial PREVIEW with the aim to achieve >= 8% body weight loss over 2 months and maintain weight loss over a subsequent 34-month period. The four-stage intervention (PREVIEW Behavior Modification Intervention Toolbox, or PREMIT) supported participants in weight maintenance. Uni- and multivariate analyses were completed from the beginning of the PREMIT maintenance stage (Week 26 of the PREVIEW trial) with 962 individuals who completed the trial. Results: Habit strength and ability to resist temptations increased during the early PREMIT adherence stage (Weeks 26 to 52) before plateauing during middle (Weeks 52 to 104) and late (Weeks 104 to 156) PREMIT adherence stages. Higher habit strength for energy-dense diet was significantly associated with larger weight regain (p <= .007). No changes in motivation or interactions with PREMIT attendance were observed. Discussion: Changing diet habits is a complex, multifactorial process, with participants struggling at least with some aspects of weight maintenance. Habits against consuming energy-dense, sweet, and fatty food appeared effective in protecting against weight regain. The observed effect sizes were small, reflecting the complexity of breaking old habits and forming new ones to support long-term maintenance of weight loss