Abstract
BackgroundAdolescents’ health-related behavior varies from weekday to weekend. Only few studies, however, have examined to which degree such variation will affect markers of cardiometabolic health. Therefore, the primary aim of this study is to examine if markers of cardiometabolic health differ between different days of the week in adolescents.MethodsThis cross-sectional school-based study included up to 581 participants, 11–17 years old. Markers of metabolic health were insulin, glucose, triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) and blood pressure. Linear mixed regression modelling was used to examine the cardiometabolic profile across weekdays.ResultsSignificant declining trends were observed across the week in adolescents’ levels of cardiometabolic health markers. Lower levels of insulin (16.1%), glucose (2.6%) and triglyceride (24.7%) were observed on Fridays compared to Mondays (p ≤ 0.006). Gradual improvement in measurement profiles across weekdays was less apparent for HDL-C, LDL-C, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure (P ≥ 0.06). Analyses stratified by sex suggested a more noticeable pattern of gradual improvement across weekdays in boys than in girls.ConclusionSignificantly lower levels of insulin, glucose and triglyceride were observed in adolescents on Fridays compared to Mondays. However, when sex specific analyses were performed significant profile variations were only observed across the week in boys. More research is needed to better understand which behavioral factors in particular seem to influence weekly variation in markers of cardiometabolic health - especially since such variation potentially will have an impact on how assessments of markers of cardiometabolic health optimally should be planned, standardized and carried out, both in research and in medical practice.
Highlights
Adolescents’ health-related behavior varies from weekday to weekend
In total 581 participants were available after exclusion of subjects based on missing variables - 497 participants with valid blood samples and 581 participants with valid blood pressure assessments
Stratifying by sex suggested that the gradual improvement in cardiometabolic health-profile across the week was more evident in boys than in girls
Summary
Adolescents’ health-related behavior varies from weekday to weekend. Only few studies, have examined to which degree such variation will affect markers of cardiometabolic health. Exercise intervention studies have shown favorable changes in HDL-C, triglycerides, insulin levels and waist circumference in obese children [4] as well as lower systolic blood pressure in adolescents with no health problem or clinical diagnose [5]. A large cross-sectional study, including pooled data from 14 studies and 20.871 children and adolescents found favorable levels of waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, insulin, and HDL-C among children and adolescents who spent more time in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), independent of the amount of time spent sedentary [6]. Children tend to be more sedentary, sleep less, be less physically active, consume more sugar-sweetened beverages and have higher total energy intake when compared to weekdays [16,17,18,19]
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