Accelerometer measured sedentary behavior and physical activity in white and black adults: The REGARDS study.
OBJECTIVE
Health disparities between subgroups may be partially due to differences in lifestyle behaviors such as sedentariness and physical activity. To obtain a more accurate description of these two lifestyle behaviors, accelerometry was employed among a large sample of white and black adults (ages 49-99 years) living in the United States.


METHODS
Cross-sectional.


METHODS
7967 participants from the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke cohort wore an Actical™ accelerometer ≥10h/day for ≥4 days. Time (mean minutes/day and proportion of total wear time) spent in sedentary behavior, light intensity physical activity, and moderate-vigorous intensity physical activity was compared by sex, age, body mass index, race, and geographic location.


RESULTS
Proportion of total wear time spent in sedentary behavior was 75-90%, light intensity physical activity was 10-23%, and moderate-vigorous intensity physical activity was 0-1.7% across subgroups. Mean moderate-vigorous intensity physical activity was 0-16min/day and associated with 3-12% accumulating ≥150min/wk using a 10-min bout criterion. Persons ≥85 years, those classified obese, persons living in the southeastern United States, and black women were the most inactive. The proportion achieving at least one 10-min bout of moderate-vigorous intensity physical activity per week was only 36%. The number of 10-min bouts/week was 1.5±0.08bouts/week. The distribution of weekly moderate-vigorous intensity physical activity was similar across nearly all subgroups with a distinct reverse J-shaped configuration.


CONCLUSIONS
The vast majority of white and black midlife and older adults in this study engaged sparingly in moderate-vigorous intensity physical activity, accumulated tremendous amounts of sedentary behavior, and seldom engaged in continuous bouts of health-enhancing physical activity.
Exercise Science and Health Promotion Program, School of Nutrition and Health Promotion, Arizona State University, United States. Electronic address: steven.hooker@asu.edu.
Steven P
SP
Hooker
Prevention Research Center, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, United States. Electronic address: brent@brenthutto.com.
Brent
B
Hutto
Exercise Science and Health Promotion Program, School of Nutrition and Health Promotion, Arizona State University, United States. Electronic address: wenfei.zhu@asu.edu.
Wenfei
W
Zhu
Departments of Exercise Science and Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, United States. Electronic address: sblair@mailbox.sc.edu.
Steven N
SN
Blair
Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, United States. Electronic address: colabianchi@umich.edu.
Natalie
N
Colabianchi
Department of Public Health Sciences, College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, United States. Electronic address: vena@musc.edu.
John E
JE
Vena
Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, United States. Electronic address: drhodes@ms.soph.uab.edu.
David
D
Rhodes
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, United States. Electronic address: vjhoward@uab.edu.
Virginia J
VJ
Howard
D061725:Accelerometry; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D015144:Southeastern United States; D013997:Time Factors; D044465:White People
African American; Aging; Cohort; Exercise; Movement sensor; Patterns