Differences in Accelerometer-Measured Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Between Middle-Aged Men and Women in Japan: A Compositional Data Analysis.

BACKGROUND

Differences in accelerometer-measured sedentary behavior and different physical activity (PA) intensities between men and women have been poorly described. The authors examined gender differences in time-use activity composition and total volume of PA.

METHODS

A cross-sectional mail survey was conducted from 2013 to 2015 with a randomized sample of 6000 middle-aged (40-64 y) community-dwelling Japanese adults living in urban and regional cities. Participants wore Active style Pro HJA-350IT on their waist for 7 consecutive days. Gender differences in activity time use was examined using compositional data analysis to control for time spent in all activity measures.

RESULTS

In total, 757 participants (303 men, 52.3 [7.1] y) with valid data were included in the analysis. Women spent on average 12.6% less time in sedentary behavior and 23.4% more time in light-intensity PA than men, whereas no significant difference was found for moderate to vigorous PA. Women accumulated a significantly greater volume of PA than men (17.8 vs 15.0 metabolic equivalent of task h/d).

CONCLUSIONS

Japanese middle-aged women showed higher levels of PA than men because they spent more time in light-intensity PA. Given the health benefits of light-intensity PA, evaluating only moderate to vigorous PA may lead to an underestimation of women's participation in PA.