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      Long-term health benefits of physical activity – a systematic review of longitudinal studies

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          Abstract

          Background

          The treatment of noncommunicable diseases (NCD), like coronary heart disease or type 2 diabetes mellitus, causes rising costs for the health system. Physical activity is supposed to reduce the risk for these diseases. Results of cross-sectional studies showed that physical activity is associated with better health, and that physical activity could prevent the development of these diseases. The purpose of this review is to summarize existing evidence for the long-term (>5 years) relationship between physical activity and weight gain, obesity, coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

          Methods

          Fifteen longitudinal studies with at least 5-year follow up times and a total of 288,724 subjects (>500 participants in each study), aged between 18 and 85 years, were identified using digital databases. Only studies published in English, about healthy adults at baseline, intentional physical activity and the listed NCDs were included.

          Results

          The results of these studies show that physical activity appears to have a positive long-term influence on all selected diseases.

          Conclusions

          This review revealed a paucity of long-term studies on the relationship between physical activity and the incidence of NCD.

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          Long-term morbidity and mortality of overweight adolescents. A follow-up of the Harvard Growth Study of 1922 to 1935.

          A Must, P Jacques, G Dallal … (1992)
          Overweight in adults is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. In contrast, the long-term effect of overweight in adolescence on morbidity and mortality is not known. We studied the relation between overweight and morbidity and mortality in 508 lean or overweight adolescents 13 to 18 years old who participated in the Harvard Growth Study of 1922 to 1935. Overweight adolescents were defined as those with a body-mass index that on two occasions was greater than the 75th percentile in subjects of the same age and sex in a large national survey. Lean adolescents were defined as those with a body-mass index between the 25th and 50th percentiles. Subjects who were still alive were interviewed in 1988 to obtain information about their medical history, weight, functional capacity, and other risk factors. For those who had died, information on the cause of death was obtained from death certificates. Overweight in adolescent subjects was associated with an increased risk of mortality from all causes and disease-specific mortality among men, but not among women. The relative risks among men were 1.8 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.2 to 2.7; P = 0.004) for mortality from all causes and 2.3 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.4 to 4.1; P = 0.002) for mortality from coronary heart disease. The risk of morbidity from coronary heart disease and atherosclerosis was increased among men and women who had been overweight in adolescence. The risk of colorectal cancer and gout was increased among men and the risk of arthritis was increased among women who had been overweight in adolescence. Overweight in adolescence was a more powerful predictor of these risks than overweight in adulthood. Overweight in adolescence predicted a broad range of adverse health effects that were independent of adult weight after 55 years of follow-up.
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            Cardiorespiratory fitness and adiposity as mortality predictors in older adults.

            Xuemei Sui, Michael Lamonte, James Laditka … (2007)
            Although levels of physical activity and aerobic capacity decline with age and the prevalence of obesity tends to increase with age, the independent and joint associations among fitness, adiposity, and mortality in older adults have not been adequately examined. To determine the association among cardiorespiratory fitness ("fitness"), adiposity, and mortality in older adults. Cohort of 2603 adults aged 60 years or older (mean age, 64.4 [SD, 4.8] years; 19.8% women) enrolled in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study who completed a baseline health examination during 1979-2001. Fitness was assessed by a maximal exercise test, and adiposity was assessed by body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and percent body fat. Low fitness was defined as the lowest fifth of the sex-specific distribution of maximal treadmill exercise test duration. The distributions of BMI, waist circumference, and percent body fat were grouped for analysis according to clinical guidelines. All-cause mortality through December 31, 2003. There were 450 deaths during a mean follow-up of 12 years and 31 236 person-years of exposure. Death rates per 1000 person-years, adjusted for age, sex, and examination year were 13.9, 13.3, 18.3, and 31.8 across BMI groups of 18.5-24.9, 25.0-29.9, 30.0-34.9, and > or =35.0, respectively (P = .01 for trend); 13.3 and 18.2 for normal and high waist circumference (> or =88 cm in women; > or =102 cm in men) (P = .004); 13.7 and 14.6 for normal and high percent body fat (> or =30% in women; > or =25% in men) (P = .51); and 32.6, 16.6, 12.8, 12.3, and 8.1 across incremental fifths of fitness (P < .001 for trend). The association between waist circumference and mortality persisted after further adjustment for smoking, baseline health status, and BMI (P = .02) but not after additional adjustment for fitness (P = .86). Fitness predicted mortality risk after further adjustment for smoking, baseline health, and either BMI, waist circumference, or percent body fat (P < .001 for trend). In this study population, fitness was a significant mortality predictor in older adults, independent of overall or abdominal adiposity. Clinicians should consider the importance of preserving functional capacity by recommending regular physical activity for older individuals, normal-weight and overweight alike.
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              Physical activity and risk of cognitive impairment and dementia in elderly persons.

              Rebecca E. K. MacPherson, D Laurin, R Verreault … (2001)
              Dementia is common, costly, and highly age related. Little attention has been paid to the identification of modifiable lifestyle habits for its prevention. To explore the association between physical activity and the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia. Data come from a community sample of 9008 randomly selected men and women 65 years or older, who were evaluated in the 1991-1992 Canadian Study of Health and Aging, a prospective cohort study of dementia. Of the 6434 eligible subjects who were cognitively normal at baseline, 4615 completed a 5-year follow-up. Screening and clinical evaluations were done at both waves of the study. In 1996-1997, 3894 remained without cognitive impairment, 436 were diagnosed as having cognitive impairment-no dementia, and 285 were diagnosed as having dementia. Incident cognitive impairment and dementia by levels of physical activity at baseline. Compared with no exercise, physical activity was associated with lower risks of cognitive impairment, Alzheimer disease, and dementia of any type. Significant trends for increased protection with greater physical activity were observed. High levels of physical activity were associated with reduced risks of cognitive impairment (age-, sex-, and education-adjusted odds ratio, 0.58; 95% confidence interval, 0.41-0.83), Alzheimer disease (odds ratio, 0.50; 95% confidence interval, 0.28-0.90), and dementia of any type (odds ratio, 0.63; 95% confidence interval, 0.40-0.98). Regular physical activity could represent an important and potent protective factor for cognitive decline and dementia in elderly persons.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Miriam Reiner
                Christina Niermann
                Darko Jekauc
                Alexander Woll
                Journal
                Journal ID (nlm-ta): BMC Public Health
                Journal ID (iso-abbrev): BMC Public Health
                Title: BMC Public Health
                Publisher: BioMed Central
                ISSN (Electronic): 1471-2458
                Publication date Collection: 2013
                Publication date (Electronic): 8 September 2013
                Volume: 13
                Page: 813
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Institute of Sport and Sport Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Engler-Bunte Ring 15, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
                [2 ]Institute of Sport Science. University of Konstanz, Universitätsstr. 10, 78467 Konstanz, Germany
                Article
                Publisher ID: 1471-2458-13-813
                DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-13-813
                PMC ID: 3847225
                PubMed ID: 24010994
                SO-VID: 5317021d-b5a5-433b-b01f-7f34a649398b
                Copyright © Copyright © 2013 Reiner et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
                License:

                This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                Date received : 6 July 2012
                Date accepted : 4 September 2013
                Categories
                Subject: Research Article

                ScienceOpen disciplines: Public health
                Keywords: physical activity,adults,weight gain,chd,type 2 diabetes mellitus,dementia,ncd
                Data availability:
                ScienceOpen disciplines: Public health
                Keywords: physical activity, adults, weight gain, chd, type 2 diabetes mellitus, dementia, ncd

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