Physical activity for better or worse – studies of the physical activity paradox within Swedish working life.

Research indicates that physical activity performed at work may have negative health effects, in contrast to physical activity performed at leisure time. This is called the physical activity paradox.

While physical activity at leisure time is an important tool in the prevention and treatment of high blood glucose levels and diabetes type 2, less is known about the effects on these variables of a high amount of physical activity at work. One important factor that may affect the amount of physical activity at work and leisure time is socioeconomic status.

However, most research has been performed using subjective measurements of physical activity and sedentary behavior, and socioeconomic status has not been properly investigated.

In this project, we have unique possibilities to further investigate the physical activity paradox, analyzing data from two different accelerometers.The main aim of this project is to clarify the amount of time spent in physical activity and sedentary behavior at work and at leisure time within different occupational groups, and how this is associated with blood glucose metabolism in women and men and different socioeconomic groups.

In this project, we will analyze data collected on about 2500 participants in ”the Swedish CArdioPulmonary bioImage Study” (SCAPIS) in Umeå.

Physical activity and sedentary behaviour at work and leisure time was measured using two different accelerometers (ActiGraph and activPAL). The accelerometer data will be processed using a new method called “Compositional Data Analysis” (CoDA). In SCAPIS Umeå, an oral glucose tolerance test was done for the analysis of blood glucose metabolism.

Socioeconomic status will be analyzed using survey questions.

The knowledge that we will gain from this project may assist in shaping future workplace interventions and recommendations for a healthy working life, to better target the needs of different socioeconomical groups.