Aims: Longitudinal evidence on the relationship of sedentary time (ST), light-intensity physical activity (LPA), and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) with changes in cardiac structure and function in the paediatric population is scarce. This evidence is clinically important due to the impact ST can have on the long-term prognosis of healthy young population in the lifetime continuum. This prospective observational study examined the relationships of cumulative ST, LPA, and MVPA from childhood with longitudinal changes in cardiac structure and function.
Methods and results: This is a secondary analysis from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, UK birth cohort of 1682 children aged 11 years. Participants who had at least one follow-up timepoints accelerometer-measured ST, LPA, and MVPA over a period of 13 years and repeated echocardiography-measured cardiac structure and function at ages 17- and 24-year clinic visit were included. Left ventricular mass indexed for height2.7 (LVMI2.7) and left ventricular (LV) diastolic function from mitral E/A ratio (LVDF) were computed. Among 1682 children (mean [SD] age, 11.75 [0.24] years; 1054 [62.7%] females), the cumulative one-min/day increase in ST from ages 11 to 24 years was associated with progressively increased LVMI2.7 {effect estimate 0.002 g/m2.7 [confidence interval (CI) 0.001-0.003], P < 0.001}, irrespective of sex, obesity, and hypertensive status. Cumulative one-min/day increase in LPA was associated with a decreased LVMI2.7 (-0.005 g/m2.7 [-0.006 to -0.003], P < 0.0001) but an increased LVDF. Cumulative one-minute/day increase in MVPA was associated with progressively increased LVMI2.7 (0.003 g/m2.7 [0.001-0.006], P = 0.015).
Conclusion: ST contributed +40% to the 7-year increase in cardiac mass, MVPA increased cardiac mass by +5%, but LPA reduced cardiac mass by -49%. Increased ST may have long-term pathologic effects on cardiac structure and function during growth from childhood through young adulthood; however, engaging in LPA may enhance cardiac health in the young population.
Keywords: Health guidelines; Health promotion; Hypertension; Left ventricular hypertrophy; Movement behaviour; Obesity; Paediatrics.
The aim of this longitudinal study including 1682 children and adolescents was to examine the effect of sedentary time (ST), light-intensity physical activity (LPA), moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) on changes in cardiac structural and functional properties during growth until young adulthood.Cumulative ST from childhood contributed a maximum of 40% (+1.29 g/m2.7 out of the total 7-year increase in cardiac mass of 3 g/m2.7) during growth from adolescence to young adulthood. Cumulative LPA from childhood was associated with decreased cardiac mass (−0.005 g/m2.7), amounting to a −49% average reduction (−1.49 g/m2.7 out of 3 g/m2.7) in the increase in cardiac mass across the 7-year observation period. Each minute of cumulative MVPA from childhood was associated with a 5% progressively increased cardiac mass, amounting to +0.15 g/m2.7 out of 3 g/m2.7 increase during growth from adolescence to young adulthood.Participation in LPA of at least 3 h/day and decreasing ST was longitudinally associated with healthier cardiac indices in the young population. The contribution of ST to increased cardiac mass is eight times more than the MVPA-associated physiological increase. Hence, progressively increasing childhood sedentariness may independently and pathologically contribute to worsening cardiac structural and functional alterations in the young population. Childhood sedentariness causes an increased body fat, inflammation, blood pressure, lipid levels, arterial stiffness, and subsequently cardiac enlargement, thereby increasing the risk of adverse cardiovascular health consequences in later life.
© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.