Genetic associations with temporal trends in physical activity and body mass index across four decades: the...

To examine whether genetic liability to physical activity is associated with temporal trends in physical activity and body mass index over the past four decades.

The Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) is a population-based longitudinal study conducted in 1984-1986, 1995-1997, 2006-2008 and 2017-2019. Leisure-time physical activity and body mass index were assessed at all four surveys, and biological samples were obtained for genotyping since the second survey. We used linear mixed models to estimate the mean difference in minutes per week of leisure-time physical activity and body mass index (kg/m²) at each HUNT survey and according to participants' genetic liability (ie, fifths of a polygenic risk score (PRS)) to physical activity.

In 1984-1986, participants in the fifth versus the first quintile of the PRS for physical activity reported 10.7 min/week (95% CI, 8.1 to 13.3) more leisure-time physical activity. Three decades later, in 2017-2019, the corresponding difference was 21.4 min/week (95% CI, 19.2 to 23.7), indicating interacting effects between calendar time and genetic liability to physical activity (p_interaction<0.001). The differences in body mass index between the highest and lowest fifth of PRS for physical activity were -0.3 kg/m² (95% CI, -0.4 to -0.2) in 1984-1986 and -0.8 kg/m2 (95% CI, -0.9 to -0.7) in 2017-2019, also indicating interacting effects (p_interaction<0.001).

This study shows increasing differences in both leisure-time physical activity and body mass index over the past four decades between people with high versus low genetic liability to physical activity.