WEDNESDAY, June 12, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Sedentary behaviors, especially watching television, are associated with reduced odds of healthy aging, according to a study published online June 11 in JAMA Network Open.

Hongying Shi, Ph.D., from the School of Public Health at Wenzhou Medical University in China, and colleagues examined the independent association of sedentary behaviors and light-intensity physical activity (LPA) with healthy aging in a cohort study using data from the Nurses’ Health Study for participants aged 50 years or older and free of major chronic diseases in 1992 who were followed up for 20 years.

The researchers found that 8.6 percent of the 45,176 participants achieved healthy aging. Each increment of two hours per day in sitting watching television was associated with a 12 percent reduction in the odds of healthy aging after adjustment for covariates, including moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). In contrast, a 6 percent increase in the odds of healthy aging was seen with each increase of two hours per day in LPA at work (LPA-Work). The odds of healthy aging were increased with replacing one hour of sitting watching television with LPA at home, LPA-Work, or MVPA (odds ratios, 1.08, 1.10, and 1.28, respectively). Replacing television time with sleep was associated with increased odds of healthy aging among participants who slept seven hours per day or less.

“These findings complement previous evidence on the association between these behaviors and mortality, and provide important evidence for promoting active lifestyles for achieving optimal health at older ages,” the authors write.

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