Association of leisure sedentary time with common chronic disease risk factors: A longitudinal study of China Health and Nutrition Surveys

Exercise sustains the hallmarks of health

Exercise has long been known for its active role in improving physical fitness and sustaining health. Regular moderate-intensity exercise improves all aspects of human health and is widely accepted as a preventative and therapeutic strategy for various diseases. It is well-documented that exercise maintains and restores homeostasis at the organismal, tissue, cellular, and molecular levels to stimulate positive physiological adaptations that consequently protect against various pathological conditions. Here we mainly summarize how moderate-intensity exercise affects the major hallmarks of health, including the integrity of barriers, containment of local perturbations, recycling and turnover, integration of circuitries, rhythmic oscillations, homeostatic resilience, hormetic regulation, as well as repair and regeneration. Furthermore, we summarize the current understanding of the mechanisms responsible for beneficial adaptations in response to exercise. This review aimed at providing a comprehensive summary of the vital biological mechanisms through which moderate-intensity exercise maintains health and opens a window for its application in other health interventions. We hope that continuing investigation in this field will further increase our understanding of the processes involved in the positive role of moderate-intensity exercise and thus get us closer to the identification of new therapeutics that improve quality of life.

Educational level differences in the primary and secondary prevention of stroke

The aim of this study is to estimate the educational level differences in the primary and secondary prevention of stroke among the Chinese population. Data were obtained from the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) survey of 512,891 people aged 30-79 years in 10 geographic regions of China, which was conducted from 2002 to 2008. The Prediction for Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk in China model was used to identify individuals with a high estimated 10-year stroke risk. A total of 8884 participants (1.7%) had established stroke and 218,972 (42.7%) had a high stroke risk. In both primary and secondary prevention, the participants' educational level was positively associated with the control of smoking, blood pressure, consuming a healthy diet, and the use of antiplatelet, BP-lowering medications but negatively associated with higher physical activity levels (all P_trend < 0.001). In addition, the positive associations were observed with the control of drinking and use of anti-hyperglycaemia medication for primary prevention (all P_trend < 0.001) and with the use of lipid-lowering medication for secondary prevention (P_trend = 0.019). The results of the interaction between education level and prevention level showed that, compared with participants in primary prevention, educational level disparities in those with secondary prevention had significantly higher use of antiplatelets and lipid-lowering drugs, achieving the physical activity goal and non-current drinker (all P_{for interaction} < 0.05). A higher education level was associated with an increased acceptance of primary and secondary prevention strategies (not smoking or drinking, consuming a healthier diet) except for engaging in a suitable level of physical activity.

Current status of premature mortality from four non-communicable diseases and progress towards the Sustainable Development Goal target 3.4: a population-based study in northeast China, 2004-2017

Background and aim

According to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3.4, premature mortality from four non-communicable diseases (cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes mellitus, collectively referred to as NCD4) should achieve a minimum decline of 33% in 2030 relative to 2015. This remains a challenge for China. This study aimed to evaluate the current status and progress towards this target in Liaoning Province, one of the three provinces in northeast China.

Methods

We calculated the premature mortality rates (PMRs) per year and average annual percentage changes (AAPCs) from NCD4 using mortality data between 2004 and 2017. The trend was analyzed in the whole population, as well as in subpopulations of gender (male/female) and inhabiting area (urban/rural). PMRs from NCD4 for 2030 were projected by fitting a linear regression based on the current trend, which was identified by a Joinpoint model.

Findings

In the whole population, only chronic respiratory diseases showed a significant decline (AAPC: − 6.5%, p < 0.05), while only cancer showed a significant increase (AAPC: + 1.3%, p < 0.05); taken together, NCD4 showed a significant increase (AAPC: + 0.6%, p < 0.05). In the subpopulations, while males showed a significant increase in NCD4 (AAPC: + 1.5%, p < 0.05), cardiovascular diseases (AAPC: + 1.7%, p < 0.05), cancer (AAPC: + 1.8%, p < 0.05), and diabetes mellitus (AAPC: + 4.2%, p < 0.05), females showed a significant decline in NCD4 (AAPC: − 1.2%, p < 0.05), cardiovascular diseases (AAPC: − 1.8%, p < 0.05), diabetes mellitus (AAPC: − 2.1%, p < 0.05), but showed a mild increase in cancer (AAPC: + 0.5%, p > 0.05). A comparative analysis of the projected PMRs for 2030 with the 2015 levels revealed that only chronic respiratory diseases are expected to achieve the SDG target 3.4, apart from in the urban male subpopulation.

Conclusion

Except for chronic respiratory diseases, NCD4 cannot be expected to achieve the SDG target 3.4 in the whole population of Liaoning Province. Under these circumstances, special attention should be paid to reducing the risks of cancer and providing preventative interventions for men.

Recent Trends in Sedentary Time: A Systematic Literature Review

This paper systematically reviews and synthesizes the relevant literature on sedentary time research. A bibliometric analysis was conducted to evaluate the publications from 2010 to 2020 in the Web of Science (WoS) core collection database. Derwent Data Analyzer software was used for the cleaning, mining, and visualization of the data. Historical trends of the topics, main contributors, leading countries, leading institutions, leading research areas, and journals were explored. A total of 3020 publications were studied. The United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia are the three most productive countries. The Australian institution Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute led the list of productive institutions, and Ekelund U published the most papers. Sedentary time raised the concerns of scholars from 106 research areas, and public health was the dominant field. Physical activity, accelerometer, children, and obesity were the most frequently used keywords. The findings suggest that sedentary time is rapidly emerging as a global issue that has detrimental effects on public health. The hotspots shifted in the past 10 years, and COVID-19 was the most popular topic of sedentary time research.