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The relationship between objectively measured physical activity, sedentary time, and vascular health in children

Lindsay Nettlefold1, Heather A McKay, Patti-Jean Naylor

  • 1Centre for Hip Health and Mobility, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

American Journal of Hypertension
|June 8, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Physical activity is linked to small artery compliance in children, but not large artery compliance. Further research is needed on activity bout frequency and interventions to improve arterial health.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric cardiology
  • Vascular physiology
  • Exercise science

Background:

  • Physical activity (PA) benefits arterial compliance in adults.
  • The association between PA and arterial compliance in children remains unclear.
  • This study investigates PA and sedentary time's impact on children's arterial compliance.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the cross-sectional relationship between physical activity and sedentary time with arterial compliance in children.
  • To determine if bouted moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is associated with arterial compliance independently of total MVPA.

Main Methods:

  • Arterial compliance (large and small arteries) measured by diastolic pulse contour analysis in 102 children (8-11 years).
  • Activity classified using accelerometers: sedentary, light, or moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA).
  • Hierarchical linear regression analyzed activity's contribution to arterial compliance, controlling for BMI, systolic blood pressure, and body surface area.

Main Results:

  • Physical activity variables did not significantly explain variance in large artery compliance.
  • Light activity and MVPA explained additional variance in small artery compliance (5.8% and 2.7%, respectively).
  • Bout duration of MVPA was not significantly associated with small artery compliance after accounting for total MVPA.

Conclusions:

  • Objectively measured physical activity is associated with small artery compliance, but not large artery compliance, in children aged 8-11.
  • Future research should investigate the influence of physical activity bout frequency.
  • The impact of physical activity interventions on pediatric arterial compliance warrants further exploration.
Abstract

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