Abstract
BackgroundTime spent in daily activities (sleep, sedentary behaviour and physical activity) has important consequences for health and wellbeing. The amount of time spent varies from day to day, yet little is known about the temporal nature of daily activity patterns in adults. The aim of this review is to identify the annual rhythms of daily activity behaviours in healthy adults and explore what temporal factors appear to influence these rhythms.MethodsSix online databases were searched for cohort studies exploring within-year temporal patterns (e.g. season effects, vacation, cultural festivals) in sleep, sedentary behaviour or physical activity in healthy 18 to 65-year-old adults. Screening, data extraction, and risk of bias scoring were performed in duplicate. Extracted data was presented as mean daily minutes of each activity type, with transformations performed as needed. Where possible, meta-analyses were performed using random effect models to calculate standardised mean differences (SMD).ResultsOf the 7009 articles identified, 17 studies were included. Studies were published between 2003 and 2019, representing 14 countries and 1951 participants, addressing variation in daily activities across season (n = 11), Ramadan (n = 4), vacation (n = 1) and daylight savings time transitions (n = 1). Meta-analyses suggested evidence of seasonal variation in activity patterns, with sleep highest in autumn (+ 12 min); sedentary behaviour highest in winter (+ 19 min); light physical activity highest in summer (+ 19 min); and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity highest in summer (+ 2 min) when compared to the yearly mean. These trends were significant for light physical activity in winter (SMD = − 0.03, 95% CI − 0.58 to − 0.01, P = 0.04). Sleep appeared 64 min less during, compared to outside Ramadan (non-significant). Narrative analyses for the impact of vacation and daylight savings suggested that light physical activity is higher during vacation and that sleep increases after the spring daylight savings transition, and decreases after the autumn transition.ConclusionsResearch into temporal patterns in activity behaviours is scarce. Existing evidence suggests that seasonal changes and periodic changes to usual routine, such as observing religious events, may influence activity behaviours across the year. Further research measuring 24-h time use and exploring a wider variety of temporal factors is needed.
Highlights
Time spent in daily activities has important consequences for health and wellbeing
Existing evidence suggests that seasonal changes and periodic changes to usual routine, such as observing religious events, may influence activity behaviours across the year
Insufficient sleep, excessive sedentary behaviour and insufficient physical activity are all common drivers of weight gain and obesity in adults [1, 2]
Summary
Time spent in daily activities (sleep, sedentary behaviour and physical activity) has important consequences for health and wellbeing. Insufficient sleep, excessive sedentary behaviour and insufficient physical activity are all common drivers of weight gain and obesity in adults [1, 2] These suboptimal daily movement behaviours increase the risk of many non-communicable diseases (i.e. coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes), all-cause mortality, certain cancers, anxiety, and depression [3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. Current health promotion campaigns typically intervene based on geography, demography (e.g. age or ethnicity) or socioeconomics (e.g. disadvantaged groups) [16,17,18], yet the timing of health promotion campaign delivery may be overlooked Temporal factors such as season, cultural and festive periods, and vacation status may influence 24-h movement behaviours. Better understanding temporal patterns in adult movement behaviours may identify new health promotion campaign intervention targets
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