(Press-News.org) Undertaking the majority of daily physical activity in the evening is linked to the greatest health benefits for people living with obesity, according to researchers from the University of Sydney, Australia who followed the trajectory of 30,000 people over almost 8 years.
Using wearable device data to categorise participant’s physical activity by morning, afternoon or evening, the researchers uncovered that those who did the majority of their aerobic moderate to vigorous physical activity– the kind that raises our heartrate and gets us out of breath– between 6pm and midnight had the lowest risk of premature death and death from cardiovascular disease.
The frequency with which people undertook moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in the evening, measured in short bouts up to or exceeding three minutes, also appeared to be more important than their total amount of physical activity daily.
The study, led by researchers from the University’s Charles Perkins Centre is published in the journal Diabetes Care today.
“Due to a number of complex societal factors, around two in three Australians have excess weight or obesity which puts them at a much greater risk of major cardiovascular conditions such as heart attacks and stroke, and premature death,” said Dr Angelo Sabag, Lecturer in Exercise Physiology at the University of Sydney.
“Exercise is by no means the only solution to the obesity crisis, but this research does suggest that people who can plan their activity into certain times of the day may best offset some of these health risks.”
Smaller clinical trials have shown similar results, however the large scale of participant data in this study, the use of objective measures of physical activity and hard outcomes, such as premature death, makes these findings significant.
Joint first author Dr Matthew Ahmadi also stressed that the study did not just track structured exercise. Rather researchers focused on tracking continuous aerobic MVPA in bouts of 3 minutes or more as previous research shows a strong association between this type of activity, glucose control and lowered cardiovascular disease risk compared with shorter (non-aerobic) bouts.
“We didn’t discriminate on the kind of activity we tracked, it could be anything from power walking to climbing the stairs, but could also include structured exercise such as running, occupational labour or even vigorously cleaning the house,” said Dr Ahmadi, National Heart Foundation postdoctoral research fellow at the Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney.
While observational, the findings of the study support the authors original hypothesis, which is the idea – based on previous research - that people living with diabetes or obesity, who are already glucose intolerant in the late evening, may be able to offset some of that intolerance and associated complications, by doing physical activity in the evening.
How was the study conducted?
The researchers used data from UK Biobank and included 29,836 adults aged over 40 years of age living with obesity, of whom 2,995 participants were also diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.
Participants were categorised into morning, afternoon of evening MVPA based on when they undertook the majority of their aerobic MVPA as measured by a wrist accelerometer worn continuously for 24 hours a day over 7 days at study onset.
The team then linked health data (from the National Health Services and National Records of Scotland) to follow participants health trajectory for 7.9 years. Over this period they recorded 1,425 deaths, 3,980 cardiovascular events and 2,162 microvascular disfunction events.
To limit bias, the researchers accounted for differences such as age, sex, smoking, alcohol intake, fruit and vegetable consumption, sedentary time, total MVPA, education, medication use and sleep duration. They also excluded participants with pre-existing cardiovascular disease and cancer.
The researchers say the length of the study follow-up and additional sensitivity analysis bolster the strength of their findings however, due to the observational design, they cannot completely rule out potential reverse causation. This is the possibility that some participants had lower aerobic MVPA levels due to underlying or undiagnosed disease.
Why is this study important?
Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, Director of the Mackenzie Wearables Research Hub at the Charles Perkins Centre and senior author on the paper, said the sophistication of studies in the wearables field is providing huge insights into the patterns of activity that are most beneficial for health.
“It is a really exciting time for researchers in this field and practitioners alike, as wearable device-captured data allow us to examine physical activity patterns at a very high resolution and accurately translate findings into advice that could play an important role in health care,” said Professor Stamatakis.
“While we need to do further research to establish causal links, this study suggests that the timing of physical activity could be an important part of the recommendations for future obesity and Type 2 diabetes management, and preventive healthcare in general.”
-ENDS-
Declaration
This research was conducted using the UK Biobank resource under application 25813. This study was funded by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Investigator Grant and the National Health Foundation of Australia Postdoctoral Fellowship. The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to report.
END
Against the backdrop of global challenges such as climate change, diminishing natural resources, and the need to feed a growing population, the imperative for fostering worldwide agricultural sustainability has reached unprecedented levels. China’s Agricultural Green Development (AGD) serves as an important model for global sustainable agricultural development. What advantages does this model offer in terms of concept and implementation path compared to other international sustainable agriculture initiatives? What ...
Parents and youth sport coaches need to have positive relationships to foster positive sporting experiences and enable young people to reach their sporting potential – but there’s currently no clear direction about the best way for them to come together.
Flinders University researchers examining youth sport say that developing better coach-parent relationships that create an environment conducive to positive youth sport experiences and outcomes will require a fresh approach and a more interactive perspective.
Improving interactions and communication between parents and coaches needs ...
Engineered bacteria can produce a plastic modifier that makes renewably sourced plastic more processable, more fracture resistant and highly biodegradable even in sea water. The Kobe University development provides a platform for the industrial-scale, tunable production of a material that holds great potential for turning the plastic industry green.
Plastic is a hallmark of our civilization. It is a family of highly formable (hence the name), versatile and durable materials, most of which are also persistent in nature and therefore a significant source of pollution. Moreover, many plastics are produced from crude oil, a non-renewable resource. Engineers and researchers ...
Swapping red meat for ‘forage fish’, such as herring, sardines, and anchovies, could save up to 750,000 lives a year in 2050 and significantly reduce the prevalence of disability as a result of diet-related disease, suggests a data analysis published in the open access journal BMJ Global Health.
Adopting this type of diet would be especially helpful for low and middle income countries, where these fish are cheap and plentiful, and where the toll taken by heart disease, in particular, is high, say the researchers.
Mounting ...
Experiencing the sort of job insecurity in early adulthood that is often linked to the gig economy, is linked to a heightened risk of a serious alcohol-related illness in later life, suggest the findings of a long term study published online in Occupational & Environmental Medicine.
And men who find themselves in this position as young adults seem to be more at risk than young women, the findings indicate.
The prevalence of ‘precarious employment’, which describes non-standard or temporary work that is often poorly paid, insecure, and unprotected, has increased in recent years, explain the researchers. ...
Xylazine, a powerful animal tranquiliser linked to horrific side effects, is now widespread in the UK illicit drug market.
In most cases xylazine is mixed with strong opioids, such as heroin or fentanyl, which is a common combination in the United States. However, xylazine was also detected in the absence of strong opioids alongside stimulant drugs such as cocaine, and found in items sold as counterfeit codeine and diazepam (Valium) tablets and even THC vapes.
Researchers warn the wider population of people who use drugs beyond heroin users will ...
Drugs known as GLP-1 analogues have become increasingly popular to treat diabetes and obesity, but there have been concerns that they might increase the risk of thyroid cancer. Now an extensive Scandinavian study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet has found no evidence of such a link. The study is published in The BMJ.
GLP-1 receptor agonists, also known as GLP-1 analogues, reduce blood sugar levels and appetite. They are widely used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity, with their clinical use steadily increasing. Earlier studies and adverse event data have suggested that these drugs could be associated with an increased risk of thyroid ...
The evidence on the use of puberty blockers and hormones for children and young people experiencing gender related distress is wholly inadequate, making it impossible to gauge their effectiveness or their impact on mental and physical health, find two systematic reviews of the available research, published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.
Of the 50 studies included in the review looking at the effectiveness of puberty blockers for gender questioning teens, only one was of high quality, leading the authors to conclude that although most of the studies suggested that treatment might affect bone health and height: “No conclusions can be drawn about the impact ...
You have your mother’s eyes and your father’s smile, but genetics is much more than just what’s on the surface. In a study that spans more than a decade, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have looked at generations of families in a specific population to reveal the role newly inherited DNA variants play on recessive disease traits, and in the process, they have created a population specific database revealing unique DNA information unseen in larger cohorts.
The findings, now published in Genetics in Medicine OPEN, revealed a correlation between occurrences of complex genetic ...
Baylor College of Medicine is the champion of the 2024 STAT Madness competition!
Similar to the March Madness bracket-style basketball competition, but focused on science, this national event pits research institutions against each other for the top innovation spot in science and medicine published in the previous year.
This year, 50 institutions across the U.S. sent their candidate studies to STAT Madness, which selected 64 for the competition. The winner is elected by popular vote. After five weeks of voting that gathered nearly 270,000 votes, the Baylor team outdid the Stanford University competitor with 64.8% of the vote ...
