Association of Light Exposure on Physical Activity and Sedentary Time in Young People

Aggio, Daniel; Smith, Lee; Fisher, Abigail; Hamer, Mark

doi:10.3390/ijerph120302941

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Association of Light Exposure on Physical Activity and Sedentary Time in Young People

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Health Behaviour Research Centre, University College London, London WC1E6BT, UK

Physical Activity Research Group, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London WC1E6BT, UK

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Academic Editor: Paul B. Tchounwou

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2015, 12(3), 2941-2949; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph120302941

Received: 22 January 2015 / Revised: 19 February 2015 / Accepted: 5 March 2015 / Published: 10 March 2015

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Abstract

Background: To investigate whether light exposure was associated with objectively measured physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour in young people. Methods: Participants (n = 229, 46.7% female) were young people (mean 8.8 years [SD ± 2.2]) from the borough of Camden, UK. Daily sedentary time, moderate and vigorous PA (MVPA) and light exposure were measured using a tri-axial accelerometer with an ambient light sensor during the summer. Multiple linear regression models examined associations between average daily light exposure, sedentary time and time in MVPA. Models were repeated investigating weekdays and weekend days separately. Analyses were adjusted for pre-specified covariables, including age, sex, device wear time, ethnic group, school and body fat. Results: There were significant associations between average daily light exposure and time sedentary (β coefficient = −11.2, 95% CI, −19.0 to −3.4) and in MVPA (β coefficient = 3.5, 95% CI, 1.2 to 5.9). Light exposure was significantly associated with weekend sedentary time (β coefficient = −10.0, 95% CI, −17.6, −2.4), weekend MVPA (β coefficient = 3.7, 95% CI, 1.7, 5.7), weekday sedentary time (β coefficient = −15.0, 95% CI, −22.7 to −7.2), but not weekday MVPA (β coefficient = 2.0, 95% CI, −0.5 to 4.5). Conclusion: Average daily light exposure is positively associated with time in MVPA and negatively associated with sedentary time. Increasing daylight exposure may be a useful intervention strategy for promoting physical activity. View Full-Text

Keywords: Accelerometry; sitting time; adolescents; children; outdoors

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

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MDPI and ACS Style

Aggio, D.; Smith, L.; Fisher, A.; Hamer, M. Association of Light Exposure on Physical Activity and Sedentary Time in Young People. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2015, 12, 2941-2949. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph120302941

AMA Style

Aggio D, Smith L, Fisher A, Hamer M. Association of Light Exposure on Physical Activity and Sedentary Time in Young People. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2015; 12(3):2941-2949. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph120302941

Chicago/Turabian Style

Aggio, Daniel, Lee Smith, Abigail Fisher, and Mark Hamer. 2015. "Association of Light Exposure on Physical Activity and Sedentary Time in Young People" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 12, no. 3: 2941-2949. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph120302941

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Association of Light Exposure on Physical Activity and Sedentary Time in Young People

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