Which is better for adolescents' health: "regular exercise" or "weekend warriors"? A cross-sectional study based on a...

This study aimed to analyze the distribution of one-week physical activity patterns among adolescents in Tibet and to investigate the associations of "weekend warrior" and regular activity patterns with physical health.

This cross-sectional study was conducted from June to December 2020 and included 1,275 Tibetan and Han students aged 12-18 years from two middle schools in Lhasa. After quality control, 1,070 participants met the inclusion criteria and were included in the final analysis. Physical health was assessed using a composite score derived from nine indicators covering body composition, muscular strength, cardiorespiratory endurance, agility and coordination, speed, and flexibility. Among participants who met the recommended weekly MVPA volume, regular and weekend warrior patterns were distinguished according to whether ≥60 min/day of MVPA was accumulated on relatively more or fewer valid wear days. Chi-square tests were used to compare ethnic differences in sex, school stage, and activity patterns. Independent-samples t tests were used to compare socioeconomic status, whereas Mann-Whitney U tests were used to compare sleep quality and dietary habit scores. Binary logistic regression was used to examine the associations between insufficient, regular, and weekend warrior patterns and physical health.

Compared with the insufficient activity pattern, both the regular activity pattern (OR = 2.193, 95% CI: 1.324-3.633, p = 0.002) and the weekend warrior pattern (OR = 3.278, 95% CI: 1.386-7.749, p = 0.007) were associated with better physical health. No significant difference was observed between the regular and weekend warrior patterns in their associations with physical health (p = 0.417). Among adolescents with an insufficient activity pattern, the likelihood of achieving a physical health score of ≥80 increased gradually with increasing activity intensity, as indicated by the proportion of vigorous physical activity (VPA) and metabolic equivalent (MET) values (p_trend  < 0.001 and p_trend  = 0.006, respectively).

Both regular and weekend warrior patterns were associated with better physical health among adolescents in Tibet. No significant difference was observed between the two patterns, but this finding should be confirmed in future studies with larger weekend warrior samples. Among adolescents with an insufficient activity pattern, activity intensity was also associated with physical health; however, this finding should be interpreted cautiously given the cross-sectional design.