Time spent sedentary beyond six hours per day during growth from childhood through young adulthood may cause an excess increase of 4 mmHg in systolic blood pressure, a new study shows. Continuously engaging in light physical activity (LPA) significantly mitigated the rise in blood pressure. The study was conducted in collaboration between the Universities of Bristol and Exeter in the U.
K., and the University of Eastern Finland, and the results were published in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle . In the study, 2,513 children drawn from the University of Bristol's Children of the 90s cohort were followed from age 11 until 24 years.
At baseline, the children spent six hours per day sedentary, six hours per day engaging in LPA, and approximately 55 minutes per day in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). At follow-up in young adulthood, nine hours per day were spent sedentary, three hours per day in LPA, and approximately 50 minutes per day in MVPA. The average blood pressure in childhood was 106/56 mmHg which increased to 117/67 mmHg in young adulthood, partly due to normal physiological development.
Persistent increase in sedentary time from age 11 through 24 years was associated with an average of 4 mmHg excess increase in systolic blood pressure. Participating in LPA from childhood lowered the final level by 3 mmHg, but engaging in MVPA had no blood pressure-lowering effect. "Furthermore, when 10 minutes out of every hour spent sedentary was replaced wi.