Dr. Garrido-Méndez, Alex

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between physical activity (PA), both occupational (OPA) and during leisure time (LTPA), with obesity and cardiovascular risk factors in Chilean adults. 5,157 participants from the Chilean National Health Survey 2009–2010 were included in this study. OPA and LTPA levels were assessed using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire. The association between both PA with obesity and cardiovascular risk factors was determined using logistic regression. Our findings showed a significant trend between higher LTPA and lower odds for obesity (OR 0.64 [95% CI: 0.53; 0.76], central obesity 0.52 [0.44; 0.61]) and other cardiovascular risk factors including diabetes (OR: 0.72 [0.55; 0.94]), hypertension (OR: 0.59 [0.50; 0.71]) and metabolic syndrome (OR: 0.62 [0.50; 0.78]). In contrast, OPA was only associated with lower odds of diabetes (OR: 0.79 [0.65; 0.98]) and hypertension (0.85 [0.74; 0.98]). In conclusion, LTPA was associated with a lower risk of all major cardiovascular risk factors, whereas OPA was only associated with a lower risk of diabetes and hypertension.

Introduction: The objective of this study was to investigate levels of self-reported active commuting by socio-demographics factors in Chile. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 5,157 participants (women: 59.3%, age range 15–101 years) from the Chilean National Health Survey (CNHS) 2009–2010. The Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ v2) was utilised to measure frequency and time spent in active commuting (walking or cycling). In addition, age, sex, education, place of residence, income and occupation were used as socio-demographics factors of interest. Results: 31.9% [95% Confidence Interval (CI): 29.7; 34.2] of the population reported not doing any form of active commuting, this prevalence was higher in women than men (34.0% vs. 29.7%), in older (≥65y) than younger individuals (≤24y) (44.1% vs. 24.4%), in individuals with lower education compared to higher education (38.4% vs. 28.2) and in retired individuals than in those who were employed (46.0% vs. 31.2%). Being a non-active commuter was associated with a higher prevalence of physical inactivity (OR: 11.1 [95% CI: 8.27; 14.8], p < 0.0001). Similar findings were observed when analyses were stratified by socio-demographics factors. Conclusions: Our findings show that prevalence and levels of active commuting differ by sociodemographic factors. In addition, our results provide evidence that commuting physical activity is an important domain that contribute to achieving the physical activity guidelines. Individuals who do not engage in active commuting presented a higher prevalence of physical inactivity.

The purpose of this study was to investigate healthy lifestyle behaviours across age categories in the older population in Chile. Data from 1390 older adults (≥60 years), in the 2009–2010 Chilean National Health Survey were analyzed. We derived the following age categories: 60–65, 66–70, 71–75, 76–80 and >80 years. The associations between age and compliance with healthy lifestyle behaviours (smoking, sitting time, physical activity, sleep duration and intake of salt, alcohol, fruit and vegetables) were investigated using logistic regression. The probability of meeting the guidelines for alcohol intake (OR trend: 1.35 [95% CI: 1.11; 1.64], p = 0.001) and smoking (OR trend: 1.23 [95% CI: 1.13; 1.33], p < 0.0001) increased with age, whereas spending <4 h per day sitting time or engaging in at least 150 min of physical activity per week or sleep on average between 7 and 9 h per day were less likely to be met with increasing age (OR trend: 0.77 [95% CI: 0.71; 0.83], p < 0.000; OR trend: 0.73 [95% CI: 0.67; 0.79], p < 0.0001, and OR trend: 0.89 [95% CI: 0.82; 0.96], p = 0.002, respectively). No significant trend across age categories was observed for fruit and vegetables, and salt intake. The probability of meeting at least 3 out of 7 healthy lifestyle behaviours across the age categories was also lower in older age categories compared to those aged 60 to 65 years. Overall, in older adults the probability of having the healthy lifestyle behaviours of physical activity, sitting time and sleeping behaviours was low but not for smoking or alcohol consumption. With an increasingly ageing population, these findings could inform stakeholders on which lifestyle behaviours could be targeted in the older adults and therefore which interventions should take place to promote healthy ageing.