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Introduction: Physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep, that is, 24-h movement behaviors, often change in the transition from work to retirement, which may affect cardiometabolic health. This study investigates the longitudinal associations between changes in 24-h movement behaviors and cardiometabolic biomarkers during the retirement transition. Methods: Retiring public sector workers (n = 212; mean (SD) age, 63.5 (1.1) yr) from the Finnish Retirement and Aging study used a thigh-worn Axivity accelerometer and filled out a diary to obtain data on daily time spent in sedentary behavior (SED), light physical activity (LPA), and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and sleep before and after retirement (1 yr in-between). Cardiometabolic biomarkers, including LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, total/HDL-cholesterol ratio, triglycerides, C-reactive protein, fasting glucose, and insulin, were measured. Associations between changes in 24-h movement behaviors and cardiometabolic biomarkers were analyzed using compositional robust regression and isotemporal substitution analysis. Results: Increasing LPA in relation to remaining behaviors was associated with an increase in HDL-cholesterol and decrease in total/HDL-cholesterol ratio ( P < 0.05 for both). For instance, reallocation of 30 min from sleep/SED to LPA was associated with an increase in HDL-cholesterol by 0.02 mmol⋅L-1. Moreover, increasing MVPA in relation to remaining behaviors was associated with a decrease in triglycerides ( P = 0.02). Reallocation of 30 min from SED/sleep to MVPA was associated with 0.07-0.08 mmol⋅L-1 decrease in triglycerides. Findings related to LDL-cholesterol, C-reactive protein, fasting glucose, and insulin were less conclusive. Conclusions: During the transition from work to retirement, increasing physical activity at the expense of passive behaviors was associated with a better lipid profile. Our findings suggest that life transitions like retirement could be utilized more as an optimal time window for promoting physical activity and health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Accelerometers enable assessment of within and between day variation in physical activity. The main aim was to examine weekday and weekend physical activity patterns among young adults. Additionally, correlates of the physical activity patterns were examined. Methods: Overall 325 adults (mean age 26.0 years, standard deviation 0.03) from the Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project used a wrist‐worn ActiGraph accelerometer continuously for 1 week. Physical activity patterns over weekdays and weekends were identified by using the group‐based trajectory modeling. Adolescent leisure time physical activity (LTPA) and sociodemographic characteristics (sex, marital and family status, education, work status, occupation, and health consciousness) were examined as possible correlates of physical activity patterns using multinomial regression analysis. Results: Five patterns were identified: consistently low activity (45%), active on weekday evenings and weekends (32%), consistently moderate activity (11%), active on weekdays (7%), and consistently high activity (5%). Low adolescent LTPA was associated with consistently low activity pattern in young adulthood. Women were more likely than men to belong in the more physically active groups (all other groups except active on weekdays, odds ratios between 2.26 and 6.17). Those in the active on weekdays group had lower education, were more often in the working life and in manual occupations than those in the consistently low activity group. Conclusions: Marked heterogeneity in physical activity patterns across the week was observed among young adults. Especially history of physical activity, sex, education, work status, and occupation were associated with different physical activity patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aimed to identify physical activity patterns and examine their association with cardiometabolic biomarkers in a cross-sectional design. Methods: Overall 6072 participants (mean age, 60.2 yr; SD 8.6 yr, 50% women) from The Maastricht Study provided daily physical activity data collected with thigh-worn activPAL3 accelerometers. The patterns of daily physical activity over weekdays and weekend days were identified by using Group Based Trajectory Modeling. Cardiometabolic biomarkers included body mass index, waist circumference, office blood pressure, glucose, HbA1c, and cholesterol levels. Associations between the physical activity patterns and cardiometabolic outcomes were examined using the analyses of covariance adjusted for sex, age, education, smoking, and diet. Because of statistically significant interaction, the analyses were stratified by type 2 diabetes status. Results: Overall, seven physical activity patterns were identified: consistently inactive (21% of participants), consistently low active (41%), active on weekdays (15%), early birds (2%), consistently moderately active (7%), weekend warriors (8%), and consistently highly active (6%). The consistently inactive and low active patterns had higher body mass index, waist, and glucose levels compared with the consistently moderately and highly active patterns, and these associations were more pronounced for participants with type 2 diabetes. The more irregular patterns accumulated moderate daily total activity levels but had rather similar cardiometabolic profiles compared with the consistently active groups. Conclusions: The cardiometabolic profile was most favorable in the consistently highly active group. All patterns accumulating moderate to high levels of daily total physical activity had similar health profile suggesting that the amount of daily physical activity rather than the pattern is more important for cardiometabolic health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Transition to retirement is shown to affect sleep, sedentary time and physical activity, but no previous studies have examined how retirement changes the distribution of time spent daily in these movement behaviors. The aim of this study was to examine longitudinally how the composition of 24-h movement behaviors changes during the transition to retirement using compositional data analysis (CoDA). Methods: We included 551 retiring public sector workers (mean age 63.2 years, standard deviation 1.1) from the Finnish Retirement and Aging study. The study participants wore a wrist-worn ActiGraph accelerometer for one week 24 h per day before and after retirement, with one year between the measurements. The daily proportions to time spent sleeping, in sedentary behavior (SED), light physical activity (LPA) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were estimated using the GGIR package. Changes in the daily proportions of movement behaviors were examined using Compositional Data Analysis version of linear mixed models. Results: In general, the proportion of time spent in active behaviors decreased relative to time spent in passive behaviors after retirement (p <.001). This change depended on occupation (occupation*time interaction p <.001). After retirement manual workers increased the proportions of both sleep and SED in relation to active behaviors, whereas non-manual workers increased the proportion of sleep in relation to active behaviors and SED. The proportion of MVPA decreased relatively more than the proportion of LPA (p = 0.01), independently of gender and occupation. Conclusions: Retirement induced a decrease in the proportion of time spent in active behaviors, especially time spent in MVPA. Future studies are needed to find ways to maintain or increase daily physical activity levels at the cost of sedentary behaviors among retirees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic and early environmental differences including early health habits associate with future health. To provide insight on the causal nature of these associations, monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs discordant for health habits provide an interesting natural experiment. Twin pairs discordant for leisure‐time physical activity (LTPA) in early adult life is thus a powerful study design to investigate the associations between long‐term LTPA and indicators of health and wellbeing. We have identified 17 LTPA discordant twin pairs from two Finnish twin cohorts and summarize key findings of these studies in this paper. The carefully characterized rare long‐term LTPA discordant MZ twin pairs have participated in multi‐dimensional clinical examinations. Key findings highlight that compared with less active twins in such MZ twin pairs, the twins with higher long‐term LTPA have higher physical fitness, reduced body fat, reduced visceral fat, reduced liver fat, increased lumen diameters of conduit arteries to the lower limbs, increased bone mineral density in loaded bone areas, and an increased number of large high‐density lipoprotein particles. The findings increase our understanding on the possible site‐specific and system‐level effects of long‐term LTPA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We utilized compositional data analysis (CoDA) to study changes in the composition of the 24-h movement behaviors during an activity tracker based physical activity intervention. A total of 231 recently retired Finnish retirees were randomized into intervention and control groups. The intervention participants were requested to use a commercial activity tracker bracelet with daily activity goal and inactivity alerts for 12 months. The controls received no intervention. The 24-h movement behaviors, i.e., sleep, sedentary time (SED), light physical activity (LPA), and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were estimated from wrist-worn ActiGraph data using the GGIR R-package. Three balance coordinates describing the composition of movement behaviors were applied: ratio of active vs. passive behaviors, LPA vs. MVPA, and sleep vs. SED. A linear mixed model was used to study changes between the baseline and 6-month time point. Overall, the changes in the 24-h movement behaviors were small and did not differ between the groups. Only the ratio of LPA to MVPA tended to change differently between the groups (group*time interaction p = 0.08) as the intervention group increased LPA similarly to controls but decreased their MVPA. In conclusion, the use of a commercial activity tracker may not be enough to induce changes in the 24-h movement behaviors among retirees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Effective strategies to reverse the increasing trend of sedentary behavior after retirement are needed. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of 12-month activity tracker-based intervention on daily total and prolonged sedentary time (≥60 minutes) among recent retirees.Methods: Randomization to intervention and control groups was performed to 231 retirees (mean age 65.2 [SD 1.1] years, 83% women). Intervention participants wore a consumer-based wrist-worn activity tracker (Polar Loop 2, Polar, Kempele, Finland), including daily activity goal, every day and night for 12 months. The activity tracker also gave vibrating reminders to break up uninterrupted inactivity periods after 55 minutes. A wrist-worn triaxial ActiGraph wGT3X-BT accelerometer was used to measure sedentary time at baseline and at 3-, 6-, and 12-month time points.Results: The use of an activity tracker did not reduce daily total or prolonged sedentary time over 12 months (p values for time * group interaction 0.39 and 0.27, respectively). In the post hoc analysis focusing on short- and medium-term effects on prolonged sedentary time, no differences between the intervention and control groups over 3 months were found, but a tendency for a greater decrease in prolonged sedentary time in the intervention group over 6 months was seen (mean difference in changes between the groups 29 minutes, 95% CI -2 to 61).Conclusions: The activity tracker with inactivity alerts did not elicit changes in sedentary time over 12 months among recent retirees. Alternative approaches may be needed to achieve long-term changes in sedentary time among retirees. Clinical Trials registration Number: NCT03320746. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The randomized controlled trial REACT (NCT03320746) examined the effect of a 12-month consumer-based activity tracker intervention on accelerometer-measured physical activity among recent retirees. Methods: Altogether 231 recently retired Finnish adults (age, 65.2 ± 1.1 yr, mean ± SD; 83% women) were randomized to intervention and control groups. Intervention participants were requested to wear a commercial wrist-worn activity tracker (Polar Loop 2; Polar, Kempele, Finland) for 12 months, to try to reach the daily activity goals shown on the tracker display, and to upload their activity data to aWeb-based program every week. The control group received no intervention. Accelerometer-based outcome measurements of daily total, light physical activity (LPA), andmoderate to vigorous (MVPA) physical activitywere conducted at baseline and at 3-, 6-, and 12-month time points.Hierarchical linear mixedmodels were used to examine the differences between the groups over time. All analyses were performed by intention-to-treat principle and adjusted for wake wear time. Results: The use of a commercial activity tracker did not increase daily total activity, LPA, or MVPA over the 12-months period when compared with nonuser controls (group--time interaction, P = 0.39, 0.23, and 0.77, respectively). There was an increase in LPA over the first 6 months in both the intervention (26 min·d-1, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 13 to 39) and the control (14 min·d-1, 95% CI = 1 to 27) groups, but the difference between the groups was not significant (12 min·d-1, 95% CI = -6 to 30). In both groups, LPA decreased from6to 12months. Conclusion: The 12-month use of a commercial activity tracker does not appear to elicit significant changes in the daily total activity among a general population sample of recent retirees, thus highlighting the need to explore other alternatives to increase physical activity in this target group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supplemental digital content is available in the text. Purpose: Retirement induces changes in the composition of daily physical activity. Our aim was to examine changes in accelerometer-measured physical activity around transition to statutory retirement among men and women by occupational category and by preretirement modes of commuting. Methods: We included 562 workers (mean [SD] age, 63.3 [1.1] yr; 85% women) from the Finnish Retirement and Aging study. The participants wore an accelerometer on their nondominant wrist for 1 wk before and 1 wk after retirement, with 1 yr between the measurements. We compared mean daily activity counts before and after retirement between manual and nonmanual occupations by gender and by preretirement commuting mode using linear models with generalized estimating equations. Results: Before retirement, women were more active than men (2550 (95% confidence interval, 2500–2590) vs 2060 (1970–2140) mean daily activity counts), with the most active group being women in manual occupations. After retirement, physical activity decreased by 3.9% among women and increased, albeit nonsignificantly, by 3.1% in men. The decrease was most pronounced among women in manual and increase among men in nonmanual occupations. After retirement, women remained more active than men (2450 (95% confidence interval 2390–2500) vs 2120 (2010–2230) counts). Active commuting, especially cycling, before retirement was associated with higher physical activity both before and after retirement, and these people also maintained their total activity lever better than did those who commuted by public transportation. Conclusions: Although women in manual occupations decreased and men in nonmanual occupations increased their activity after retirement, women were more active than men both before and after retirement. Those who engaged in active commuting before retirement maintained their activity level also after retirement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examine the association between change in physical activity over time and accumulation of cardiometabolic risk factors. Four consecutive surveys (Time 1 to 4) were conducted with 4-year intervals in 1997-2013 (the Finnish Public Sector study). Physical activity of 15,634 cardio-metabolically healthy participants (mean age 43.3 (SD 8.7) years, 85% women) was assessed using four-item survey measure and was expressed as weekly metabolic equivalent (MET) hours in Time 1, 2, and 3. At each time point, participants were categorised into low (<14 MET-h/week), moderate (≥14 to <30 MET-h/week), or high (≥30 MET-h/week) activity level and change in physical activity levels between Time 1 and 3 (over 8 years) was determined. The outcome was the number of incident cardiometabolic risk factors (hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, and obesity) at Time 4. Cumulative logistic regression was used for data analysis. Compared to maintenance of low physical activity, increase in physical activity from low baseline activity level was associated with decreased accumulation of cardiometabolic risk factors in a dose-response manner (cumulative odds ratio [cOR] = 0.73, 95% CI 0.59-0.90 for low-to-moderate and cOR = 0.67, 95% CI 0.49-0.89 for low-to-high, P for trend 0.0007). Decrease in physical activity level from high to low was associated with increased accumulation of cardiometabolic risk factors (cOR = 1.60, 95% CI 1.27-2.01) compared to those who remained at high activity level. Thus even a modest long-term increase in physical activity was associated with reduction in cardiometabolic risk whereas decrease in physical activity was related to increased risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: physical activity promotes healthy aging. However, little is known about the relationship between physical activity levels and healthy and chronic disease-free life expectancy (LE). The study aim was to examine healthy and chronic disease-free LE between ages 50 and 75 and across various levels of physical activity by sex and different occupational statuses. Methods: overall, 34,379 women (mean age 53.2 (SD 2.9) years) and 8,381 men (53.6 (SD 3.2) years) from the Finnish Public Sector study were categorized into five physical activity levels (inactive to vigorously active) according to self-reported physical activity and into three occupational statuses at the first observation point. Partial LE between ages 50 and 75 based on discrete-time multistate life table models was defined using two health indicators: healthy LE based on self-rated health and chronic disease-free LE based on chronic diseases. The average follow-up time for health indicators was 6.8 (SD 5.2) years. Results: a clear dose--response relationship between higher physical activity levels and increased healthy and chronic disease-free LE in men and women, and within occupational statuses was found. On average, vigorously active men and women lived 6.3 years longer in good health and 2.9 years longer without chronic diseases between ages 50 and 75 compared to inactive individuals. The difference in years in good health between vigorously active and inactive individuals was the largest in individuals with low occupation status (6.7 years). Conclusion: higher levels of physical activity increase healthy and chronic disease-free years similarly in men and women, but more among persons with low than with high occupational status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the recent studies on structural and functional adaptations of the right ventricle (RV) to exercise training, adaptations of its metabolism remain unknown. We investigated the effects of short-term, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) on RV glucose and fat metabolism. Twenty-eight untrained, healthy 40-55 yr-old-men were randomized into HIIT (n = 14) and MICT (n = 14) groups. Subjects performed six supervised cycle ergometer training sessions within 2 wk (HIIT session: 4-6 × 30 s all-out cycling/4-min recovery; MICT session: 40-60 min at 60% peak O2 uptake). Primary outcomes were insulin-stimulated RV glucose uptake (RVGU) and fasted state RV free fatty acid uptake (RVFFAU) measured by positron emission tomography. Secondary outcomes were changes in RV structure and function, determined by cardiac magnetic resonance. RVGU decreased after training (-22% HIIT, -12% MICT, P = 0.002 for training effect), but RVFFAU was not affected by the training (P = 0.74). RV end-diastolic and endsystolic volumes, respectively, increased +5 and +7% for HIIT and +4 and +8% for MICT (P = 0.002 and 0.005 for training effects, respectively), but ejection fraction mildly decreased (-2% HIIT, -4% MICT, P = 0.034 for training effect). RV mass and stroke volume remained unaltered. None of the observed changes differed between the training groups (P > 0.12 for group × training interaction). Only 2 wk of physical training in previously sedentary subjects induce changes in RV glucose metabolism, volumes, and ejection fraction, which precede exercise-induced hypertrophy of RV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PURPOSE: The main aim of the present study (FITFATTWIN) was to investigate how physical activity level is associated with body composition, glucose homeostasis, and brain morphology in young adult male monozygotic twin pairs discordant for physical activity. METHODS: From a population-based twin cohort, we systematically selected 10 young adult male monozygotic twin pairs (age range, 32-36 yr) discordant for leisure time physical activity during the past 3 yr. On the basis of interviews, we calculated a mean sum index for leisure time and commuting activity during the past 3 yr (3-yr LTMET index expressed as MET-hours per day). We conducted extensive measurements on body composition (including fat percentage measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry), glucose homeostasis including homeostatic model assessment index and insulin sensitivity index (Matsuda index, calculated from glucose and insulin values from an oral glucose tolerance test), and whole brain magnetic resonance imaging for regional volumetric analyses. RESULTS: According to pairwise analysis, the active twins had lower body fat percentage (P = 0.029) and homeostatic model assessment index (P = 0.031) and higher Matsuda index (P = 0.021) compared with their inactive co-twins. Striatal and prefrontal cortex (subgyral and inferior frontal gyrus) brain gray matter volumes were larger in the nondominant hemisphere in active twins compared with those in inactive co-twins, with a statistical threshold of P < 0.001. CONCLUSIONS: Among healthy adult male twins in their mid-30s, a greater level of physical activity is associated with improved glucose homeostasis and modulation of striatum and prefrontal cortex gray matter volume, independent of genetic background. The findings may contribute to later reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and mobility limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High physical activity/aerobic fitness predicts low morbidity and mortality. Our aim was to identify the most up-regulated gene sets related to long-term physical activity vs. inactivity in skeletal muscle and adipose tissues and to obtain further information about their link with cardio-metabolic risk factors. We studied ten same-sex twin pairs (age range 50-74 years) who had been discordant for leisure-time physical activity for 30 years. The examinations included biopsies from m. vastus lateralis and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue. RNA was analyzed with the genome-wide Illumina Human WG-6 v3.0 Expression BeadChip. For pathway analysis we used Gene Set Enrichment Analysis utilizing active vs. inactive co-twin gene expression ratios. Our findings showed that among the physically active members of twin pairs, as compared to their inactive co-twins, gene expression in the muscle tissue samples was chronically up-regulated for the central pathways related to energy metabolism, including oxidative phosphorylation, lipid metabolism and supportive metabolic pathways. Up-regulation of these pathways was associated in particular with aerobic fitness and high HDL cholesterol levels. In fat tissue we found physical activity-associated increases in the expression of polyunsaturated fatty acid metabolism and branched-chain amino acid degradation gene sets both of which associated with decreased 'high-risk' ectopic body fat and plasma glucose levels. Consistent with other findings, plasma lipidomics analysis showed up-regulation of the triacylglycerols containing the polyunsaturated fatty acids. Our findings identified skeletal muscle and fat tissue pathways which are associated with the long-term physical activity and reduced cardio-metabolic disease risk, including increased aerobic fitness. In particular, improved skeletal muscle oxidative energy and lipid metabolism as well as changes in adipocyte function and redistribution of body fat are associated with reduced cardio-metabolic risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The physically active lifestyle is associated with low future morbidity and mortality, but the causality between physical activity and health is not always clear. As some inherited biological characteristics and childhood experiences may cause selection bias in observational studies, we sought to take them into account by identifying 16 twin pairs (7 MZ, 9 DZ, mean age 60 years) discordant for leisure time physical activity habits for thirty years. We conducted detailed health-related examinations among these twin pairs. Our main aims were to study the effects of physical activity and genes on fitness and body composition, with special reference to body fat compartments, metabolic syndrome components and related diseases and risk factor levels, status of arteries, structure and function of the heart, bone properties, and muscle and fat tissue-related mechanisms linked to physical activity and chronic disease development. Our physical activity assessments showed that inactive co-twins were on average 8.8 MET hours/day less active than their active co-twins through out their midlife (2.2+/-2.3 vs. 11.0+/-4.1 MET h/day, p< .001). Follow-up fitness tests showed that physically inactive co-twins were less fit than their active co-twins (estimated VO(2peak) 26.4+/-4.9 vs. 32.5+/-5.5 ml/kg/min, p< .001). Similar differences were found in both MZ and DZ pairs. On the basis of earlier epidemiological observations on nonrelated individuals, these physical activity and fitness differences are large enough to cause differences in many mechanisms and risk factors related to the development of chronic diseases and to permit future analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to identify accelerometer-measured daily physical activity patterns, and to examine how they associate with health-related physical fitness among aging workers.Methods: The study population consisted of 263 participants (mean age 62.4 years, SD 1.0) from the Finnish Retirement and Aging study, who used wrist-worn ActiGraph accelerometer for at least 1 week including both workdays and days off. Health-related physical fitness measures included body composition (waist circumference, bioimpedance), cardiorespiratory fitness (bicycle ergometer test), and muscular fitness (push-up and chair rise tests).Results: Based on the latent class trajectory analysis, 6 trajectories were identified for workdays showing variation in activity level on working hours and on evening hours. Moderate activity during working hours and increase of activity level in the evening was associated with the most favorable health-related fitness in comparison to low activity throughout the workday: waist circumference 90.0 cm (95% confidence interval [CI] 85.5-94.5) versus 99.5 cm (95% CI 96.8-102.3), fat mass 13.9 kg (9.3-18.5) versus 23.8 kg (20.2-27.4), cardiorespiratory fitness 33.4 mL/kg/min (95% CI 31.4-35.3) versus 29.1 mL/kg/min (95% CI 27.8-30.3) (adjusted for age, sex, days off activity, smoking, and alcohol). For the days off, 2 different trajectories were identified, but they differed only in terms of level and not by timing of physical activity.Conclusions: A large variation in the workday physical activity patterns was observed among aging workers. Independent of worktime activity, people who were more active in the evenings had more favorable health-related physical fitness than those who were less active throughout the day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Retirement is associated with an increase in self-reported daily sedentary time, but no longitudinal evidence exists on how objectively measured sedentary time changes during retirement transition. The aim of this study was to compare objectively measured daily and hourly sedentary time before and after retirement and examine whether these changes differ by gender and occupational status.Methods: The study population consisted of 478 participants (mean age 63.2 years, standard deviation 1.7, 85% women) from the Finnish Retirement and Aging Study. Sedentary time was measured using a wrist-worn triaxial ActiGraph accelerometer before and after transition to retirement with 1 year interval. Preretirement occupational status was categorized as manual and non-manual.Results: Daily sedentary time was 8 hours 10 minutes in women and 9 hours 49 minutes in men before retirement. Considering all measurement days before and after retirement, daily sedentary time increased in women by 29 minutes (95% confidence interval [CI]: 20 to 38). Especially women retiring from manual occupations showed marked increase in sedentary time (63 minutes, 95% CI: 50 to 77). When only non-working days before retirement were considered, increase in daily sedentary time among women was less marked (16 minutes, 95% CI: 7 to 25). Among men, daily sedentary time did not change in retirement transition (-7 minutes, 95% CI: -26 to 12).Conclusions: Objectively measured sedentary time increases among women and remains at high level among men during the retirement transition. Attention should be paid to reduce daily sedentary time in retiring women and men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five times sit-to-stand (STS) test is commonly used as a clinical assessment of lower-extremity functional ability, but its association with free-living performance has not been studied. Therefore, we investigated the association between laboratory-based STS capacity and free-living STS performance using accelerometry. The results were stratified according to age and functional ability groups. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 497 participants (63% women) 60-90 yr old from three independent studies. A thigh-worn triaxial accelerometer was used to estimate angular velocity in maximal laboratory-based STS capacity and in free-living STS transitions over 3-7 d of continuous monitoring. Functional ability was assessed with short physical performance battery. Results: Laboratory-based STS capacity was moderately associated with the free-living mean and maximal STS performance (r = 0.52-0.65, P < 0.01). Angular velocity was lower in older compared with younger and in low- versus high-functioning groups, in both capacity and free-living STS variables (all P < 0.05). Overall, angular velocity was higher in capacity compared with free-living STS performance. The STS reserve (test capacity - free-living maximal performance) was larger in younger and in high-functioning groups compared with older and low-functioning groups (all P < 0.05). Conclusions: Laboratory-based STS capacity and free-living performance were found to be associated. However, capacity and performance are not interchangeable but rather provide complementary information. Older and low-functioning individuals seemed to perform free-living STS movements at a higher percentage of their maximal capacity compared with younger and high-functioning individuals. Therefore, we postulate that low capacity may limit free-living performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ObjectiveTo determine the association between long-term leisure-time physical activity/inactivity and eating behaviours in twin pairs discordant for physical activity for 30 years.DesignCo-twin control design with cross-sectional data collection using questionnaire on eating habits and 5 d food diary. Differences in eating behaviours between physically active and inactive co-twins were analysed with pairwise tests.SettingFinland.SubjectsSixteen same-sex twin pairs (seven monozygotic and nine dizygotic, mean age 60 years) discordant for physical activity, selected from the Finnish Twin Cohort on the basis of physical activity discordance for 30 years, blinded to their possible differences in eating behaviours.ResultsThe eating habits questionnaire revealed that physically active co-twins more frequently reported that it is easy to eat according to need, whereas overeating and/or restrictive eating was more common among the inactive co-twins (P = 0·035). Avoiding calories was more common among the active than inactive co-twins (P = 0·034). Based on food diaries the physically active co-twins had daily energy intake on average 15·5 kJ/kg higher than their inactive co-twins (P = 0·030). The active co-twins also had a higher intake of vitamin C (P = 0·004), total water (P = 0·044), legumes and nuts (P = 0·015) and sweets (P = 0·036), as well as a lower energy-adjusted intake of meat (P = 0·013).ConclusionsThe physically active persons seem to eat more but not necessarily healthier food. However, habitual physical activity may help in eating according to need and in reaching and maintaining a healthy body composition. Therefore, it is necessary to incorporate both dietary and physical activity advice into health counselling. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Supplemental digital content is available in the text. Purpose: Greater leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) associates with healthier lives, but knowledge regarding occupational physical activity (OPA) is more inconsistent. DNA methylation (DNAm) patterns capture age-related changes in different tissues. We aimed to assess how LTPA and OPA are associated with three DNAm-based epigenetic age estimates, namely, DNAm age, PhenoAge, and GrimAge. Methods: The participants were young adult (21–25 yr, n = 285) and older (55–74 yr, n = 235) twin pairs, including 16 pairs with documented long-term LTPA discordance. Genome-wide DNAm from blood samples was used to compute DNAm age, PhenoAge, and GrimAge Age acceleration (Acc), which describes the difference between chronological and epigenetic ages. Physical activity was assessed with sport, leisure-time, and work indices based on the Baecke Questionnaire. Genetic and environmental variance components of epigenetic age Acc were estimated by quantitative genetic modeling. Results: Epigenetic age Acc was highly heritable in young adult and older twin pairs (~60%). Sport index was associated with slower and OPA with faster DNAm GrimAge Acc after adjusting the model for sex. Genetic factors and nonshared environmental factors in common with sport index explained 1.5%–2.7% and 1.9%–3.5%, respectively, of the variation in GrimAge Acc. The corresponding proportions considering OPA were 0.4%–1.8% and 0.7%–1.8%, respectively. However, these proportions were minor (<0.5%) after adjusting the model for smoking status. Conclusions: LTPA associates with slower and OPA with faster epigenetic aging. However, adjusting the models for smoking status, which may reflect the accumulation of unhealthy lifestyle habits, attenuated the associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The older Finnish Twin Cohort (FTC) was established in 1974. The baseline survey was in 1975, with two follow-up health surveys in 1981 and 1990. The fourth wave of assessments was done in three parts, with a questionnaire study of twins born during 1945-1957 in 2011-2012, while older twins were interviewed and screened for dementia in two time periods, between 1999 and 2007 for twins born before 1938 and between 2013 and 2017 for twins born in 1938-1944. The content of these wave 4 assessments is described and some initial results are described. In addition, we have invited twin-pairs, based on response to the cohortwide surveys, to participate in detailed in-person studies; these are described briefly together with key results. We also review other projects based on the older FTC and provide information on the biobanking of biosamples and related phenotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leisure-time physical activity is a key contributor to physical and mental health. Yet the role of physical activity in modulating cortical function is poorly known. We investigated whether precognitive sensory brain functions are associated with the level of physical activity. Physical activity history (3-yr-LTMET), physiological measures and somatosensory mismatch response (sMMR) in EEG were recorded in 32 young healthy twins. In all participants, 3-yr-LTMET correlated negatively with body fat%, r = −0.77 and positively with VO 2max , r = 0.82. The fat% and VO 2max differed between 15 physically active and 17 inactive participants. Trend toward larger sMMR was seen in inactive compared to active participants. This finding was significant in a pairwise comparison of 9 monozygotic twin pairs discordant for physical activity. Larger sMMR reflecting stronger synchronous neural activity may reveal diminished gating of precognitive somatosensory information in physically inactive healthy young men compared to the active ones possibly rendering them more vulnerable to somatosensory distractions from their surroundings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The purpose of this study was to investigate how physical activity (PA), cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), and body composition are associated with heart rate variability (HRV)-based indicators of stress and recovery on workdays. Additionally, we evaluated the association of objectively measured stress with self-reported burnout symptoms. Methods Participants of this cross-sectional study were 81 healthy males (age range 26-40 y). Stress and recovery on workdays were measured objectively based on HRV recordings. CRF and anthropometry were assessed in laboratory conditions. The level of PA was based on a detailed PA interview (MET index [MET-h/d]) and self-reported activity class. Results PA, CRF, and body composition were significantly associated with levels of stress and recovery on workdays. MET index (P < 0.001), activity class (P = 0.001), and CRF (P = 0.019) were negatively associated with stress during working hours whereas body fat percentage (P = 0.005) was positively associated. Overall, 27.5% of the variance of total stress on workdays (P = 0.001) was accounted for by PA, CRF, and body composition. Body fat percentage and body mass index were negatively associated with night-time recovery whereas CRF was positively associated. Objective work stress was associated (P = 0.003) with subjective burnout symptoms. Conclusions PA, CRF, and body composition are associated with HRV-based stress and recovery levels, which needs to be taken into account in the measurement, prevention, and treatment of work- related stress. The HRV-based method used to determine work-related stress and recovery was associated with self-reported burnout symptoms, but more research on the clinical importance of the methodology is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background-Long-term physical inactivity seems to cause many health problems. We studied whether persistent physical activity compared with inactivity has a global effect on serum metabolome toward reduced cardiometabolic disease risk. Methods and Results-Sixteen same-sex twin pairs (mean age, 60 years) were selected from a cohort of twin pairs on the basis of their >30-year discordance for physical activity. Persistently (≥5 years) active and inactive groups in 3 population- based cohorts (mean ages, 31-52 years) were also studied (1037 age- and sex-matched pairs). Serum metabolome was quantified by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. We used permutation analysis to estimate the significance of the multivariate effect combined across all metabolic measures; univariate effects were estimated by paired testing in twins and in matched pairs in the cohorts, and by meta-analysis over all substudies. Persistent physical activity was associated with the multivariate metabolic profile in the twins (P=0.003), and a similar pattern was observed in all 3 population cohorts with differing mean ages. Isoleucine, α1-acid glycoprotein, and glucose were lower in the physically active than in the inactive individuals (P<0.001 in meta-analysis); serum fatty acid composition was shifted toward a less saturated profile; and lipoprotein subclasses were shifted toward lower very-low-density lipoprotein (P<0.001) and higher large and very large high-density lipoprotein (P<0.001) particle concentrations. The findings persisted after adjustment for body mass index. Conclusions-The numerous differences found between persistently physically active and inactive individuals in the circulating metabolome together indicate better metabolic health in the physically active than in inactive individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Epigenetic clocks may increase our understanding on human aging and how genetic and environmental factors regulate an individual aging process. One of the most promising clocks is Horvath's DNA methylation (DNAm) age. Age acceleration, i.e., discrepancy between DNAm age and chronological age, tells us whether the person is biologically young or old compared to his/her chronological age. Several environmental and lifestyle factors have been shown to affect life span. We investigated genetic and environmental predictors of DNAm age in young and older monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins with a focus on leisure time physical activity. Results: Quantitative genetic modeling revealed that the relative contribution of non-shared environmental factors was larger among older compared with younger twin pairs [47% (95% CI 35, 63) vs. 26% (95% CI: 19, 35), p < 0.001]. Correspondingly, genetic variation accounted for less of the variance in older [53% (95% CI 37, 65)] compared with younger pairs [74% (95% CI 65, 82)]. We tested the hypothesis that leisure time physical activity is one of the non-shared environmental factors that affect epigenetic aging. A co-twin control analysis with older same-sex twin pairs (seven MZ and nine DZ pairs, mean age 60.4 years) who had persistent discordance in physical activity for 32 years according to reported/interviewed physical-activity data showed no differences among active and inactive co-twins, DNAm age being 60.7 vs. 61.8 years, respectively [between-group mean-difference: − 1.17 (95%CI − 3.43,1.10)]. Results from the younger cohort of twins supported findings that LTPA is not associated with DNAm age acceleration. Conclusions: In older subjects, a larger amount of variance in DNAm age acceleration was explained by non-shared environmental factors compared to young individuals. However, leisure time physical activity during adult years has at most a minor effect on DNAm age acceleration. This is consistent with recent findings that long-term leisure time physical activity in adulthood has little effect on mortality after controlling for genetic factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]