Exploring the effect of sedentary behavior on increased adiposity in middle-aged adults

Abstract Background. Evidence about sedentary behaviors (SBS) and body adiposity association may be inconclusive due to potential recall bias errors in the SBS self-report questionnaires. Objective. To assess the association between SBS and body adiposity. We also compared this association using noncorrected and corrected self-reported SBS data. Methods. A total of 1,285 adults participating in the Health Worker Cohort Study (HWCS) were evaluated at baseline in 2004 and follow-up in 2010. Body adiposity was measured by dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). SBS were obtained with a self-administered questionnaire in the total sample and accelerometry in a subsample of 142 HWCS participants. Accelerometry was used to correct self-reported SBS with a generalized linear model. The agreement was assessed with a kappa analysis of terciles and Bland‒Altman for continuous values. After adjusting for confounders, we used a fixed effect model to evaluate the association between noncorrected and corrected SBS and body adiposity. Results. The participants’ noncorrected self-reported SBS at baseline and follow-up were 2.8±1.8 and 2.3±1.6 hours/day, and adiposity was 24.9±8.1 and 26.8±8.5 kg, respectively. Corrected sedentary behavior was 7.6 hours/day at baseline and follow-up. Each additional hour of corrected SBS was associated with an 847-gram increase in adiposity during the 6.8 years from the baseline to the follow-up assessment. Conversely, noncorrected self-reported SBS were associated with a 97-gram reduction for every hour of increased SBS. Conclusions. The increased SBS are associated with increased adiposity for the corrected self-reported SBS. It is imperative to implement public health strategies to reduce sedentary behavior.