Different Types of Physical Activity and Fitness and Health in Adults: An 18-Year Longitudinal Study.

Steffen C E Schmidt,Susanne Tittlbach,Klaus Bös,Alexander Woll

doi:10.1155/2017/1785217

Steffen C E Schmidt, Susanne Tittlbach + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/1785217

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Abstract

Objective. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between different types of daily life physical activity (PA) and physical fitness (PF) and health throughout adulthood. Methods. A total of 723 men and women, aged 28–76 years, participated 1681 times during four measurement points from 1992 to 2010 in this study. We assessed self-reported PA, anthropometrics, physical health status (HS), and PF in each study year. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used to analyze the measures. Results. PF and HS worsened with increasing age while sports activity (SA) declined. The modeling showed that sex, age, and SES play important roles concerning PA, PF, and HS. Athletes show higher HS and HF than nonathletes. Habitual activity (HA) also showed a positive relationship with PF and HS, but effects were lower than for SA. Work related activity (WRA) showed no meaningful relationship with PF or HS. Conclusions. Comparable amounts of PA can lead to different effects on PF or HS. Our findings underline the importance of contexts, content, and purposes of PA when health or fitness benefits are addressed. Simply moving your body is not enough.

Highlights

There is consensus that regular physical activity (PA) can improve physical fitness (PF) and health and assist in the prevention of disease [1, 2]
N refers to the total number of observations during the four measurement points among the 723 participants
sports activity (SA) was positively associated with fitness and health with the exception of high amounts of SA at high Body mass index (BMI) levels

Summary

Introduction

There is consensus that regular physical activity (PA) can improve physical fitness (PF) and health and assist in the prevention of disease [1, 2]. Several studies have shown that physically active adults are healthier and have a higher PF than inactive adults throughout different nations and populations groups [3, 4]. Physical activity is promoted as part of a healthy lifestyle [5]. The current understanding of the relationship between PA, PF, and health can be visualized using the model from Bouchard et al [6] (Figure 1). The model illustrates that PA can influence fitness and health and that the relationships are reciprocal. Other factors such as personal and social attributes age, sex, and socioeconomic status (SES) are known to influence PF, HS, PA, and their relationships

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Discussion

Conclusion