Association Between Adherence to 24-Hour Movement Guidelines and Noncommunicable Disease Risk in Chinese Adults: Prospective Cohort Study (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The increasing annual global deaths are attributable to noncommunicable chronic diseases (NCDs). Adhering to healthy lifestyle behaviors is associated with lower NCD risk, particularly among individuals with ample movement, enough sleep, and reduced sedentariness. Nevertheless, there are only few prospective assessments on the association of interactions between daily activities with NCD prevention, while the associations between adhering to Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines (24HGs) for adults and NCD risks are still unknown. Compared to the general population, obese and overweight populations are at a higher risk of developing NCDs. Currently, it is unclear whether the health benefits of adhering to 24HGs differ between the general population and the obese population. OBJECTIVE This study explores prospective associations between adherence to 24HGs and NCD risks by weight status among overweight and obese adults in China. METHODS This decadal study consists of 9227 adults aged 35 years and older without any major NCDs at enrolment in the China Health and Nutrition Survey (2004-2011) and followed up until 2015. The exposure of interest was the overall score of compliance with 24HGs measured by participants’ self-report, wherein 1 point was assigned for compliance to each component, resulting in an aggregated score ranging from 0 to 3. The primary outcome was the first occurrence of major NCDs (high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, cancer, and acute myocardial infarction). Log-binomial regression models were used to evaluate the associations. RESULTS : Overall, 4315 males and 4912 females, with 25,175 person-years of follow-up, were included in our analyses. The average baseline age was 50.21 (SD 11.04) years. Among the overweight and obese groups, those adhering to 1 (risk ratio [RR] 0.37, 95% CI 0.19-0.74; P=.004), 2 (RR 0.37, 95% CI 0.19-0.72; P=.003), and 3 (RR 0.32, 95% CI 0.14-0.73; P=.006) recommendations of 24HGs had a significantly lower NCD risk than those not adhering to any of the activity guidelines. Among the normal or underweight groups, those adhering to 1 (RR 0.49, 95% CI 0.27-0.96; P=.03) and 3 (RR 0.40, 95% CI 0.17-0.94; P=.03) components had a significantly lower NCD risk than those not adhering to any of the activity guidelines. CONCLUSIONS In this prospective study, we found that active adherence to recommendations of 24HGs was associated with lower risks of NCDs, especially among overweight and obese participants. Additionally, overweight and obese individuals who met at least 1 component of 24HGs were at a significantly lower risk for NCDs, but this protective effect was not found among individuals in the normal and underweight groups. Individuals with excess body weight who tend to be more susceptible to health risks may gain greater health benefits than the general population by adhering to the recommendations of 24HGs.