This study highlights the importance of looking at the day as a whole, considering the combined impact of all activities performed, to better understand how our behaviors influence physical and mental health, especially in the elderly population. Overall, the researchers concluded that, to promote cognitive health, it is necessary to consider the type of sedentary behavior, favoring activities that stimulate the brain, such as reading, instead of passive behaviors, such as watching TV.
This research, conducted by scientists at the University of South Australia, addresses how different activities performed throughout the day can influence the health of the heart, metabolism and brain. These activities include physical exercise, sedentary behaviors and sleep, and the researchers' focus is to understand how the balance between them affects overall health.
Previous studies have analyzed the individual impact of each behavior, but now the interest is in understanding how the combination of these activities throughout the 24 hours of the day influences health.
Regarding cardiometabolic health, several studies indicate that spending more time in moderate or vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and less time in sedentary behaviors is associated with better health indicators.
These include improvements in body mass index (BMI), reduction in waist circumference, and healthier levels of blood markers, such as increased HDL (the "good") cholesterol and reduced triglycerides.
For example, a study of more than 15,000 adults demonstrated that a routine with more physical activity and less sedentary behavior is favorably associated with cardiovascular health and body fat control.
Regarding cognitive health, the evidence is less conclusive. Some studies suggest that more intense physical activity and reducing sedentary time can improve cognitive functions, such as memory and reasoning. However, not all sedentary behaviors have the same impact.
Passive behaviors, such as watching TV, can be harmful, while cognitively stimulating sedentary activities, such as reading or playing cards, are associated with better cognitive outcomes.
The lack of more robust evidence can be attributed to the lack of studies that analyze all activities of the day together, considering their total composition.
To further this analysis, scientists have used tools such as the Multimedia Activity Recall for Children and Adults (MARCA). This is a tool designed to record the activities carried out by a person over a 24-hour period. It is widely used to capture behavior and sleep patterns, both in children and adults, with the aim of understanding how people distribute their time in different activities and how this impacts their physical and mental health.
MARCA works by asking participants to describe all activities they performed the previous day, broken down into detailed time blocks.
Each reported activity is classified based on a compendium that organizes these activities by intensity (such as sedentary, light, moderate, or vigorous, using metabolic equivalents (METs)) or by domain (such as household, social, recreational, or screen time activities).
One of the main advantages of MARCA is its ability to provide a detailed breakdown of time distribution, capturing both the intensity and context of the activities performed.
One specific study explored this approach with 397 adults aged 60 to 70 without serious health problems. Participants reported their activities using the MARCA, took cognitive tests such as the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III (ACE-III), and had their blood pressure, cholesterol and waist circumference measured.
The ACE-III assesses five main domains: attention and orientation, memory, verbal fluency, language and visuospatial skills. Each domain contributes to a total score of 100 points. For example, the attention and orientation domain measures the ability to focus and be oriented in time and space, while the memory domain assesses the ability to recall recent and past information.
Verbal fluency measures the ability to generate words in specific categories, language includes tasks such as sentence comprehension and object naming, and visuospatial skills assess the ability to interpret and manipulate visual information.
The ACE-III is administered by trained professionals, such as neurologists or psychologists, and can be completed in about 15 to 20 minutes. It is a sensitive tool for detecting early-onset dementias, such as Alzheimer's disease, and is widely used in research and clinical evaluations.
While it is effective in providing a detailed profile of cognition, its scores can be influenced by factors such as education, native language, and culture, and it is not a substitute for full clinical evaluations.
In studies such as ACTIVate, the ACE-III is used to measure cognitive function in healthy participants and identify how different lifestyles and behaviors may be associated with brain health.
In combination with MARCA, these tools allow us to explore the relationship between daily activity patterns and cognition, providing a comprehensive view of the interactions between lifestyle and mental health.
The results showed that domains of behavior (such as sports or reading) positively impacted cognitive function, while any type of physical activity was sufficient to provide benefits to cardiovascular health.
Overall, the researchers concluded that to promote cognitive health, it is necessary to consider the type of sedentary behavior, favoring activities that stimulate the brain, such as reading, over passive behaviors, such as watching TV.
For cardiometabolic health, any type of physical activity appears to be beneficial. However, there are still gaps in knowledge about how the balance of these activities throughout the day affects the health of older adults, especially considering individual characteristics such as age, socioeconomic conditions and genetic predisposition.
This study highlights the importance of viewing the day as a whole, considering the combined impact of all activities performed, to better understand how our behaviors influence physical and mental health, especially in the elderly population.
The use of tools such as MARCA allows researchers to explore these relationships in more detail, providing new insights into how to adapt lifestyle to improve overall health.
READ MORE:
Should We Work Smarter or Harder for Our Health? A Comparison of Intensity and Domain-Based Time-Use Compositions and Their Associations With Cognitive and Cardiometabolic Health
Maddison L Mellow, Dorothea Dumuid, Alexandra Wade, Timothy Olds, Ty Stanford, Hannah Keage, Montana Hunter, Nicholas Ware, Felicity M Simpson, Frini Karayanidis, and Ashleigh E Smith
The Journals of Gerontology, Series A, Volume 79, Issue 11, November 2024, glae233
Abstract:
Each day is made up of a composition of “time-use behaviors.” These can be classified by their intensity (eg, light or moderate–vigorous physical activity [PA]) or domain (eg, chores, socializing). Intensity-based time-use behaviors are linked with cognitive function and cardiometabolic health in older adults, but it is unknown whether these relationships differ depending on the domain (or type/context) of behavior. This study included 397 older adults (65.5 ± 3.0 years, 69% female, 16.0 ± 3.0 years education) from Adelaide and Newcastle, Australia. Time-use behaviors were recorded using the Multimedia Activity Recall for Children and Adults, cognitive function was measured using the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination III and Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, and waist–hip ratio were also recorded. Two 24-hour time-use compositions were derived from each participant’s Multimedia Activity Recall for Children and Adults, including a 4-part intensity composition (sleep, sedentary behavior, light, and moderate–vigorous PA) and an 8-part domain composition (Sleep, Self-Care, Chores, Screen Time, Quiet Time, Household Administration, Sport/Exercise, and Social). Linear regressions found significant associations between the domain composition and both Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination III (p = .010) and waist–hip ratio (p = .009), and between the intensity composition and waist–hip ratio (p = .025). Isotemporal substitution modeling demonstrated that the domains of sedentary behaviors and PA impacted their associations with Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination III, while any PA appeared beneficial for waist–hip ratio. Findings suggest the domain of behavior should be considered when aiming to support cognitive function, whereas, for cardiometabolic health, it appears sufficient to promote any type of PA.
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