Associations of partnering transition and socioeconomic status with a four-year change in daily steps among Finnish adults.

Aim: The aim of this prospective four-year follow-up study was to examine how socioeconomic status (SES) and change in marital status are associated with the change in pedometer-measured physical activity (PA) in adulthood among participants in the 'Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study'. Methods: Questionnaires were completed and pedometers worn at baseline in 2007 and again at follow-up in 2011 by 1051 Finnish adults (62.3% female, aged 30-45 years in 2007). A latent change score model was used to examine mean change in daily total steps, aerobic steps and non-aerobic steps during weekdays and weekend days between 2007 and 2011. Results: In women re-coupling or finding a new partner was associated with decrease in total steps (p=0.010) and being single was associated with increase in non-aerobic steps (p=0.047) during weekdays from 2007 to 2011 compared to women who were married. In men, divorcing was associated with decrease in non-aerobic steps (p=0.049). Conclusions: In order to promote PA in the general population of adults, it is recommended to pay attention to people with lower SES and those who have had changes in their marital status. These factors could be taken into account when developing strategies to promote PA among the adult population.

East-west differences and migration in Finland: Association with cardiometabolic risk markers and IMT. The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.

BACKGROUND: Coronary heart disease mortality has been internationally high in eastern Finland. The excessive mortality risk in Eastern compared with western Finns is explained by differences in cardiometabolic risk profile. Current risk profile differences and association with migration have not been reported. We examined the association of place of residence (east-west) and specifically migration with cardiometabolic risk markers and carotid intima-media thickness (IMT). METHODS: The study population included 2204 participants with data available from childhood/youth in 1980 and follow-up examination in 2007. RESULTS: Participants residing in eastern Finland in adulthood had 0.022±0.004mm higher IMT than Western participants. Those who migrated east-to-west had lower IMT than those staying in the east (0.027±0.006mm, p<0.0001) while no difference to those continuously living in the west was found. Those who moved east-to-west had a lower body mass index (25.3±4.3 kg/m(2) vs. 26.2±4.5kg/m(2), p=0.01), waist circumference (85.7±12.8cm vs. 88.6±12.8cm, p=0.001), prevalence of metabolic syndrome (13% vs. 21%, p=0.01), and higher socioeconomic status (16.6±3.3 vs. 15.0±3.3 school years, p<0.0001) than those who stayed in the east. CONCLUSIONS HIGHER IMT WAS FOUND IN EASTERN FINNS THAN IN WESTERN FINNS PARTICIPANTS WHO MIGRATED EAST-TO-WEST HAD A LOWER IMT AND A BETTER CARDIOMETABOLIC RISK PROFILE THAN THOSE WHO STAYED IN THE EAST.

Daily steps among Finnish adults: variation by age, sex, and socioeconomic position.

AIMS: The aim of this study was to provide descriptive population-based pedometer data from adults aged 30-45 years in Finland, and to compare daily step counts with evidence-based indices. METHODS: The data was collected from 1853 participants in 7 consecutive days in winter 2007-08 in part of 27-year follow up of the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study. RESULTS: The participants took (mean±standard deviation) 7499 ± 2908 steps/day. Step counts included 1925 ± 2052 aerobic steps/day gathered in bouts of at least 10 min continuous ambulatory activity. Women had more total steps than men ((7824 ± 2925 vs. 7089 ± 2774; p < 0.001). Although participants had higher mean total steps on weekdays than on weekend days, they took more aerobic steps on weekend days than weekdays (p < 0.001). High-level non-manual work, and unemployment were associated with having fewer total steps, but high-level non-manual workers had more aerobic steps than other occupation groups. According to pedometer thresholds proposed by Tudor-Locke and Basset, 26% of men and 16% of women could be classified as inactive (<5000 steps/day) and 20% of women and 15% of men would be classified as active (>10,000 steps/day). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that about one-quarter of men and one-fifth of women are considered as inactive, based on the number of daily total steps. Our results suggest that total steps may provide a very different picture of activity from aerobic steps; important differences are evident by socioeconomic position and day of the week.

Lipid trajectories as predictors of depressive symptoms: the Young Finns Study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to identify common trajectories of lipid levels across childhood and early adulthood life span. DESIGN: The sample was a subpopulation of 824 young adults (3 to 9 years of age at baseline in 1980) of the ongoing population-based prospective Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. Lipid levels were determined in 1980, 1983, 1986, and 2001. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Depressive symptoms were assessed using a modified version of Beck's Depression Inventory (Beck, 1967) in 1992 and 2001. RESULTS: The 2 triglycerides trajectories (steeply vs. moderately increasing) were differently related to depressive symptoms in adulthood. The trajectory showing steep increase over time was associated with higher level of depressive symptoms (M 2.18, 95% CI [2.08, 2.28] vs. 1.99, [1.95, 2.04]). This relationship persisted after adjustments for various risk factors. These triglycerides trajectories accounted for part of the association between high body mass index and depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: A pattern of steeply increasing triglyceride levels throughout childhood and adulthood may be associated with increased the risk of depressive symptoms in adulthood. This pattern may also be one link between obesity and depressive symptoms.

Tracking of physical activity from childhood to adulthood: a review.

The aim of the article was to review studies on the tracking of physical activity in all phases of life from childhood to late adulthood. The majority of the studies have been published since 2000. The follow-up time in most studies was short, the median being 9 years. In men, the stability of physical activity was significant but low or moderate during all life phases and also in longterm follow-ups. In women, the tracking was lower and in many cases non-significant. Among both sexes, stability seems to be lower in early childhood than in adolescence or in adulthood and lower in transitional phases, such as from childhood to adolescence or from adolescence to adulthood, than in adulthood. However, the differences in the stability of physical activity between age groups and between different phases of life were small. The number of tracking studies utilising objective methods to measure physical activity was so small that systematic differences in stability between self-report and objective methods could not be determined. A factor which caused differences in tracking results was the adjustment of correlations for measurement error and other error variance. Adjusted coefficients were clearly higher than unadjusted ones. However, adjustment was done only in very few studies. If the different methods used for estimating habitual physical activity and the failure to control for important covariates in studies of tracking are taken into account, physical activity appears to track reasonably well also in the longer term, for example from adolescence to adulthood. The results of the tracking studies support the idea that the enhancement of physical activity in children and adolescents is of great importance for the promotion of public health.

Secular trends in youth physical activity and parents' socioeconomic status from 1977 to 2005.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between youth physical activity and family socioeconomic status (FSES) over 28 years. As a part of the Finnish Adolescent Health and Lifestyle Survey a random sample of 12-, 15- and 18-year-old boys and girls participated in a nation-wide survey by answering questions every second year, from 1977 to 2005, on, among other things, leisure time physical activity and sport participation. Father's education represented FSES. The results showed that there were no significant or only small differences between the high and low FSES groups in unorganised physical activity during the study period. Participation in physical activities organized by the school was not associated with FSES. Participation in youth sport organized by sport clubs was strongly associated with FSES in both sexes. The young people in the high FSES groups participated more than those in the low FSES groups. It was concluded that considerable inequality exists in youth sport participation, that this inequality has been growing during the last decade, and that it is bigger among girls than among boys.

Anger is associated with subclinical atherosclerosis in low SES but not in higher SES men and women. The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.

We investigated the associations of anger and cynicism with carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) and whether these associations were moderated by childhood or adulthood socioeconomic status (SES). The participants were 647 men and 893 women derived from the population-based Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. Childhood SES was measured in 1980 when the participants were aged 3-18. In 2001, adulthood SES, anger, cynicism, and IMT were measured. There were no associations between anger or cynicism and IMT in the entire population, but anger was associated with thicker IMT in participants who had experienced low SES in childhood. This association persisted after adjustment for a host of cardiovascular risk factors. It is concluded that the ill health-effects of psychological factors such as anger may be more pronounced in individuals who have been exposed to adverse socioeconomic circumstances early in life.