Generation Sedentary - Understanding the role of sedentary and activity for obesity and non-communicable disease prevention in youth

Projektet 'Generation Sedentary' syftar till att förstå omfattningen av fysisk aktivitet och stillasittande bland barn och unga. Vidare att klargöra samband mellan fysisk aktivitet och stillasittande och utveckling av övervikt och fetma samt metabola risk faktorer bland ungdomar. Vi har under perioden 01.10.2021 till projektslut 01-05.2021 publicerat 6 artiklar med direkt koppling till projektet. Vi har bland annat rapporterat data på förändringar i fysisk aktivitet och sedat tid över mer än 10 år bland Norska barn och unga. Vi har också fortsatt att bidra med kunskap på sambanden mellan fysisk aktivitet, stillasittande och metabol hälsa bland barn och unga. Totalt har vi publicerat 57 vetenskapliga artiklar med peer-review förfarande inom ramen för projektet sedan start.

Science directly related to Generation Sedentary have informed public health policy in terms of the recently published World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Further, we have contributed to updating the Swedish physical activity guidelines and lead the expert group in Norway also updating the guidelines.

Recent decades have seen considerable societal changes globally. Among the most profound changes are the remarkable increases in electronic media use including mobile phones, internet and online and video gaming. These changes in the availability of sedentary forms of entertainment have influenced on the behaviour of young people and available data suggest that contemporary youth spend a considerable amount of their awake sedentary. This behaviour likey track into adulthood and then constitute a substantial public health problem as inactivity is a major risk factor for premature mortality. Our previous research have suggested associations between early life factors such as birth weight and rapid infancy weight gain, sedentary behaviours and physical activity with overweight, obesity and an adverse metabolic profile also in otherwise healthy young people. However, little is known about the partly modifiable early life determinants of sedentary time and physical activity. In particular, it is unknown whether maternal and early life factors, such as gestational age, birth weight, rapid weight gain in early life, early motor development and infant temperament act as determinants of later sedentary time and physical activity. It is also unclear whether physical activity may modify the associations between early life factors and childhood obesity and metabolic risk markers for non-communicable diseases; and whether these associations differ between youths from developed and developing countries. Finally, the magnitude and direction of associations and detailed dose-response relationships between sedentary time and physical activity with obesity and non-communicable disease risk markers are yet to be clarified in young people. The combined evidence from this research programme will inform future intervention strategies for primary prevention of obesity and non-communicable diseases in young people and inform public health guidelines, policies and programs in new ways.