Accelerometer-measured physical activity patterns are associated with phenotypic age: Isotemporal substitution effects

Yanwei You; Yuquan Chen; Xiaoxin Wang; Mengxian Wei; Qi Zhang; Qiang Cao

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19158

Accelerometer-measured physical activity patterns are associated with phenotypic age: Isotemporal substitution effects

Heliyon. 2023 Aug 23;9(9):e19158. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19158. eCollection 2023 Sep.

Authors

Yanwei You¹, Yuquan Chen², Xiaoxin Wang³, Mengxian Wei¹, Qi Zhang⁴, Qiang Cao^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Sports Science & Physical Education, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
² Institute of Medical Information/Medical Library, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100020, China.
³ Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, Public Health College, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150081, China.
⁴ Undergraduate Department, Taishan University, Taian 250111, China.
⁵ Department of Earth Sciences, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650093, China.
⁶ School of Pharmacy, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau 999078, China.

Abstract

Prolonged sitting appears to accelerate aging, while optimal physical activity patterns have been found to delay the process. It is an emerging topic, and no conclusions have been reached regarding the relationship between physical activity patterns and biomarkers-measured aging. Hence, the aim of this study was to investigate the association between sensor-based objectively measured physical activity and phenotypic age using a nationwide population from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in the United States. Weighted linear regression models were performed to evaluate the association between sedentary behavior, light-intensity physical activity (LPA), moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and phenotypic age. A total of 6439 eligible participants were included and the weighted respondents were 49,964,300. Results showed that prolonged sitting was positively associated with phenotypic age in the fully adjusted model [β (95% CI): 0.009(0.007,0.011), p < 0.001], while increasing volume of LPA and MVPA was associated with younger phenotypic age using the fully adjusted model [β (95% CI): -0.010(-0.013,-0.006), p < 0.001; -0.062(-0.075,-0.048), p < 0.001]. By utilizing the Isotemporal Substitution Model, it was found that replacing 30 min of sedentary behavior with 30 min of LPA or MVPA per day was associated with estimated 0.4 or 1.9 years of phenotypic age reduction. According to the study's findings, maintaining a certain level of physical activity could delay the process of aging and intensity matters.

Keywords: Cross-sectional study; Isotemporal substitution model; Phenotypic age; Physical exercise; Sedentary behavior.