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  • Original Article
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Estimated activity patterns in British 45 year olds: cross-sectional findings from the 1958 British birth cohort

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 63, pages 978–985 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

To investigate patterns of, and associations between, physical activity at work and in leisure time, television viewing and computer use.

Subjects:

4531 men and 4594 women with complete plausible data, age 44–45 years, participating in the 1958 British birth cohort study.

Methods:

Physical activity, television viewing and computer use (hours/week) were estimated using a self-complete questionnaire and intensity (MET hours/week) derived for physical activity. Relationships were investigated using linear regression and χ2 tests.

Results:

From a target sample of 11 971, 9223 provided information on physical activity, of whom 75 and 47% provided complete and plausible activity data on work and leisure time activity respectively. Men and women spent a median of 40.2 and 34.2 h/week, respectively in work activity, and 8.3 and 5.8 h/week in leisure activity. Half of all participants watched television for ⩾2 h/day, and half used a computer for <1 h/day. Longer work hours were not associated with a shorter duration of leisure activity, but were associated with a shorter duration of computer use (men only). In men, higher work MET hours were associated with higher leisure-time MET hours, and shorter durations of television viewing and computer use. Watching more television was related to fewer hours or MET hours of leisure activity, as was longer computer use in men. Longer computer use was related to more hours (or MET hours) in leisure activities in women.

Conclusions:

Physical activity levels at work and in leisure time in mid-adulthood are low. Television viewing (and computer use in men) may compete with leisure activity for time, whereas longer duration of work hours is less influential. To change active and sedentary behaviours, better understanding of barriers and motivators is needed.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Measurement and Epidemiology of Physical Activity group at the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit, Cambridge, United Kingdom for sharing information on administering and utilizing data from the physical activity questionnaire (EPAQ2). Data collection at age 45 years was funded by the UK Medical Research Council, Grant G0000934. Statistical analyses was supported by the Medical Research Council and also by the Secretary of State for Health, Department of Health, England (NHS R&D programme). The views and opinions expressed in the article represent those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Health. Research at the UCL Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust benefits from R&D funding received from the NHS Executive.

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  1. Centre for Paediatric Epidemiology and Biostatistics, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, UK

    T J Parsons, C Thomas & C Power

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  1. T J Parsons
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  2. C Thomas
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Correspondence to T J Parsons.

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Guarantor: TJ Parsons

Contributors: TJP and CP developed the original idea. TJP and CT analyzed the data, and TJP wrote the first draft of the paper. All authors contributed to interpreting the data and writing the final version of the paper.

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Parsons, T., Thomas, C. & Power, C. Estimated activity patterns in British 45 year olds: cross-sectional findings from the 1958 British birth cohort. Eur J Clin Nutr 63, 978–985 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2009.6

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