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Excessive sedentary time and low cardiorespiratory fitness in European adolescents: the HELENA study
  1. David Martinez-Gomez1,2,
  2. Francisco B Ortega1,3,
  3. Jonatan R Ruiz1,
  4. Germán Vicente-Rodriguez4,
  5. Oscar L Veiga5,
  6. Kurt Widhalm6,
  7. Yannis Manios7,
  8. Laurent Béghin8,
  9. Jara Valtueña9,
  10. Anthony Kafatos10,
  11. Denes Molnar11,
  12. Luis A Moreno4,
  13. Ascension Marcos2,
  14. Manuel J Castillo3,
  15. Michael Sjöström1,
  16. on behalf of the HELENA study group
  1. 1Department of Biosciences and Nutrition at NOVUM, Unit for Preventive Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden
  2. 2Department of Metabolism and Nutrition, Immunonutrition Research Group, Institute of Food Science, Technology and Nutrition (ICTAN), Spanish National Research Council, Madrid, Spain
  3. 3Departments of Metabolism and Nutrition and Medical Physiology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
  4. 4GENUD (Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development Research Group), University School of Health Sciences, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
  5. 5Department of Physical Education, Sport and Human Movement, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
  6. 6Department of Pediatrics, Division of Nutrition and Metabolism, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
  7. 7Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece
  8. 8CIC-9301 (Inserm CHRU de Lille), IMPRT, University Lille 2, Lille, France
  9. 9Department of Health and Human Performance, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
  10. 10Department of Social Medicine, School of Medicine, Preventive Medicine and Nutrition Clinic, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
  11. 11Department of Pediatrics, University of Pecs, Pécs-József, Hungary
  1. Correspondence to Michael Sjöström, Unit for Preventive Nutrition, Department of Biosciences and Nutrition at NOVUM, Karolinska Institutet, 14157 Huddinge, Sweden; michael.sjostrom{at}prevnut.ki.se

Abstract

Background The aims of this study were to examine what amount of sedentary time is associated with low cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in adolescents and whether this association is independent of physical activity.

Methods The study comprised 1808 adolescents aged 12.5–17.5 years from 10 European cities. Sedentary time and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were measured by accelerometer. CRF was assessed by the 20 m shuttle-run test. Adolescents were divided into two groups (high/low) according to FITNESSGRAM guidelines. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to determine thresholds that best discriminate between high and low CRF in adolescents.

Results Adolescent girls had more sedentary time than boys (p<0.001). ROC analysis showed that girls spending ≥69% of waking time in sedentary activities had low CRF, but no significant threshold discriminated between high and low CRF in boys. Adolescent girls who exceeded this threshold had lower levels of CRF (p≤0.001) and were more likely to have a low CRF (OR 1.68, 95% CI 1.22 to 2.31) independent of centre, age and body mass index. The negative influence of excessive sedentary time on CRF remained significant (p=0.045) in adolescent girls who did not meet the physical activity guidelines (<60 min/day in MVPA) but was abolished (p>0.05) in those who met the recommendation (≥60 min/day in MVPA).

Conclusion Excessive sedentary time is associated with low CRF in adolescent girls but not in boys. However, this adverse effect might be attenuated if adolescent girls meet the current physical activity guidelines.

https://doi.org/10.1136/adc.2010.187161

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    Footnotes

    • HELENA Study Group Co-ordinator Luis A Moreno

      Core Group members Luis A Moreno, Fréderic Gottrand, Stefaan De Henauw, Marcela González-Gross, Chantal Gilbert

      Steering Committee Anthony Kafatos (President), Luis A Moreno, Christian Libersa, Stefaan De Henauw, Jackie Sánchez, Fréderic Gottrand, Mathilde Kersting, Michael Sjöstrom, Dénes Molnár, Marcela González-Gross, Jean Dallongeville, Chantal Gilbert, Gunnar Hall, Lea Maes, Luca Scalfi

      Project Manager Pilar Meléndez

      1. Universidad de Zaragoza (Spain)Luis A Moreno, Jesús Fleta, José A Casajús, Gerardo Rodríguez, Concepción Tomás, María I Mesana, Germán Vicente-Rodríguez, Adoración Villarroya, Carlos M Gil, Ignacio Ara, Juan Revenga, Carmen Lachen, Juan Fernández Alvira, Gloria Bueno, Aurora Lázaro, Olga Bueno, Juan F León, Jesús Mª Garagorri, Manuel Bueno, Juan Pablo Rey López, Iris Iglesia, Paula Velasco, Silvia Bel

      2. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (Spain)Ascensión Marcos, Julia Wärnberg, Esther Nova, Sonia Gómez, Esperanza Ligia Díaz, Javier Romeo, Ana Veses, Mari Angeles Puertollano, Belén Zapatera, Tamara Pozo, David Martinez-Gomez

      3. Université de Lille 2 (France)Laurent Beghin, Christian Libersa, Frédéric Gottrand, Catalina Iliescu, Juliana Von Berlepsch

      4. Research Institute of Child Nutrition Dortmund, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn (Germany)Mathilde Kersting, Wolfgang Sichert-Hellert, Ellen Koeppen

      5. Pécsi Tudományegyetem (University of Pécs) (Hungary)Dénes Molnar, Eva Erhardt, Katalin Csernus, Katalin Török, Szilvia Bokor, Mrs Angster, Enikö Nagy, Orsolya Kovács, Judit Répasi

      6. University of Crete School of Medicine (Greece)Anthony Kafatos, Caroline Codrington, María Plada, Angeliki Papadaki, Katerina Sarri, Anna Viskadourou, Christos Hatzis, Michael Kiriakakis, George Tsibinos, Constantine Vardavas, Manolis Sbokos, Eva Protoyeraki, Maria Fasoulaki

      7. Institut für Ernährungs- und Lebensmittelwissenschaften-Ernährungphysiologie, Rheinische Friedrich Wilhelms Universität (Germany)Peter Stehle, Klaus Pietrzik, Marcela González-Gross, Christina Breidenassel, Andre Spinneker, Jasmin Al-Tahan, Miriam Segoviano, Anke Berchtold, Christine Bierschbach, Erika Blatzheim, Adelheid Schuch, Petra Pickert

      8. University of Granada (Spain)Manuel J Castillo Garzón, Ángel Gutiérrez Sáinz, Francisco B Ortega Porcel, Jonatan Ruiz Ruiz, Enrique García Artero, Vanesa España Romero, David Jiménez Pavón, Cristóbal Sánchez Muñoz, Victor Soto, Palma Chillón, Jose M Heredia, Virginia Aparicio, Pedro Baena, Claudia M Cardia, Ana Carbonell

      9. Istituto Nazionalen di Ricerca per gli Alimenti e la Nutrizione (Italy)Davide Arcella, Giovina Catasta, Laura Censi, Donatella Ciarapica, Marika Ferrari, Cinzia Le Donne, Catherine Leclerq, Luciana Magrì, Giuseppe Maiani, Rafaela Piccinelli, Angela Polito, Raffaela Spada, Elisabetta Toti

      10. University of Napoli ‘Federico II’ Department of Food Science (Italy)Luca Scalfi, Paola Vitaglione, Concetta Montagnese

      11. Ghent University (Belgium)Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij, Stefaan De Henauw, Tineke De Vriendt, Lea Maes, Christophe Matthys, Carine Vereecken, Mieke de Maeyer, Charlene Ottevaere, Inge Huybrechts

      12. Medical University of Vienna (Austria)Kurt Widhalm, Sabine Dietrich

      13. Harokopio University (Greece)Yannis Manios, Eva Grammatikaki, Zoi Bouloubasi, Tina Louisa Cook, Sofia Eleutheriou, Orsalia Consta, George Moschonis, Ioanna Katsaroli, George Kraniou, Stalo Papoutsou, Despoina Keke, Ioanna Petraki, Elena Bellou, Sofia Tanagra, Kostalenia Kallianoti, Dionysia Argyropoulou, Katerina Kondaki, Stamatoula Tsikrika, Christos Karaiskos

      14. Institut Pasteur de Lille (France)Jean Dallongeville, Aline Meirhaeghe

      15. Karolinska Institutet (Sweden)Michael Sjöstrom, Patrick Bergman, María Hagströmer, Lena Hallström, Mårten Hallberg, Eric Poortvliet, Julia Wärnberg, Nico Rizzo, Linda Beckman, Anita Hurtig Wennlöf, Emma Patterson, Lydia Kwak, Lars Cernerud, Per Tillgren, Stefaan Sörensen

      16. Asociación de Investigación de la Industria Agroalimentaria (Spain)Jackie Sánchez-Molero, Elena Picó, Maite Navarro, Blanca Viadel, José Enrique Carreres, Gema Merino, Rosa Sanjuán, María Lorente, María José Sánchez, Sara Castelló

      17. Campden BRI (United Kingdom)Chantal Gilbert, Sarah Thomas, Elaine Allchurch, Peter Burguess

      18. SIK - Institutet foer Livsmedel och Bioteknik (Sweden)Gunnar Hall, Annika Astrom, Anna Sverkén, Agneta Broberg

      19. Meurice Recherche & Development asbl (Belgium)Annick Masson, Claire Lehoux, Pascal Brabant, Philippe Pate, Laurence Fontaine

      20. Campden & Chorleywood Food Industry Development Institute (Hungary)Andras Sebok, Tunde Kuti, Adrienn Hegyi

      21. Productos Aditivos SA (Spain)Cristina Maldonado, Ana Llorente

      22. Cárnicas Serrano SL (Spain)Emilio García

      23. Cederroth International AB (Sweden)Holger von Fircks, Marianne Lilja Hallberg, Maria Messerer

      24. Lantmännen Food R&D (Sweden)Mats Larsson, Helena Fredriksson, Viola Adamsson, Ingmar Börjesson

      25. European Food Information Council (Belgium)Laura Fernández, Laura Smillie, Josephine Wills

      26. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain)Marcela González-Gross, Agustín Meléndez, Pedro J Benito, Javier Calderón, David Jiménez-Pavón, Jara Valtueña, Paloma Navarro, Alejandro Urzanqui, Ulrike Albers, Raquel Pedrero, Juan José Gómez Lorente

    • Funding The HELENA study was supported by the European Community 6th RTD Framework Programme (Contract FOOD-CT-2005-007034). This study is also being supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Education (EX-2007-1124, EX-2008-0641, AP2006-02464) and the Spanish Ministry of Health (Maternal, Child Health and Development Network, RD08/0072).

    • Competing interests None.

    • Patient consent Obtained.

    • Ethics approval Ethic committees from each country approved the HELENA-CSS protocols.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.