Tracking of device-measured sedentary time, cardiorespiratory fitness, and cardiometabolic risk factors from childhood to young adulthood

A new study entitled “Tracking of device-measured sedentary time, cardiorespiratory fitness, and cardiometabolic risk factors from childhood to young adulthood” was recently published in the American Journal of Preventive Cardiology. A summary and citation are included below.

ABSTRACT

Background
The tracking of clustered cardiometabolic risk from childhood to young adulthood, i.e., whether an unfavourable cardiometabolic risk profile persists from childhood into young adulthood, remain uncertain and has previously not included factors like sedentary time and cardiorespiratory fitness.

Methods
We used longitudinal data from the Physical Activity among Norwegian Children Studies (PANCS), where 731 participants participated at age 9 (2005-2006) and 258 of these again at age 24 (2019-2021). Multiple imputation was performed for all eligible participants at age 24 (n=708). The cardiometabolic risk factors comprised body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, device-measured sedentary time, directly measured peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak), systolic blood pressure, LDL-cholesterol, insulin, high-sensitivity CRP, and a clustered risk Z-score. Tracking was analysed using regression models.

Results
Waist circumference and BMI demonstrated strong tracking, whereas moderate tracking was observed for VO2peak, LDL-cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, and clustered cardiometabolic risk. Insulin, high-sensitivity CRP, and sedentary time exhibited no tracking. Unfavourable childhood levels of risk factors demonstrating moderate to strong tracking were highly predictive, with those in the least favourable quartile of clustered risk at age 9 almost six times more likely than their peers to be in the least favourable quartile at age 24 years. Tracking was generally similar between sexes, but waist circumference tracked somewhat stronger among females while VO2peak tracked stronger among males.

Conclusions
Several cardiometabolic risk factors demonstrated moderate to strong tracking from childhood to young adulthood, supporting early intervention. However, sedentary behaviour may be less stable and easier to modify compared with more stable cardiometabolic risk factors.

CITATION

Husøy, A., Kolle, E., Steene-Johannessen, J., et al. (2025). Tracking of device-measured sedentary time, cardiorespiratory fitness, and cardiometabolic risk factors from childhood to young adulthood. American Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 101313, ISSN 2666-6677, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajpc.2025.101313.

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