Is increased or maintained physical activity pattern from adolescence to adulthood associated with reduced CVD risks; the HUNT Study, Norway

Little is known about the effect of adolescent physical activity on later health status, and few studies have examined physical activity patterns from adolescence to young adulthood as predictors of subsequent risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). PURPOSE: In a prospective longitudinal design we examined how different physical activity patterns from adolescence to young adulthood associated with CVD risk factors in young adulthood. METHODS: Data were from the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT2, 1995-97 and HUNT3, 2006-08), Norway. In the present 10-year longitudinal study we included 1869 individuals (males n=838) who participated in both the youth part of HUNT2, aged 13-19 years old (baseline) and the follow-up HUNT3, aged 23-31. Measurements included self-reported physical activity, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), glucose, triglycerides, resting heart rate (HR), and blood pressure. We used separate linear regressions models to investigate associations between physical activity patterns and each CVD risk factor. Physical active maintainers (physical active defined as ≥2-3 days/wk) were compared to inactive maintainers (IM). Adopters (those who were inactive (