Association between Personal Activity Intelligence (PAI) and body weight in a population free from cardiovascular disease - The HUNT study

Sophie K Kieffer; Javaid Nauman; Kari Syverud; Hege Selboskar; Stian Lydersen; Ulf Ekelund; Ulrik Wisløff

doi:10.1016/j.lanepe.2021.100091

Association between Personal Activity Intelligence (PAI) and body weight in a population free from cardiovascular disease - The HUNT study

Lancet Reg Health Eur. 2021 Mar 21:5:100091. doi: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2021.100091. eCollection 2021 Jun.

Authors

Sophie K Kieffer¹, Javaid Nauman^{1

2

3}, Kari Syverud¹, Hege Selboskar¹, Stian Lydersen⁴, Ulf Ekelund^{5

6}, Ulrik Wisløff^{1

3

7}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Postboks 8905, 7491 Trondheim, Norway.
² Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates.
³ Healthy Living for Pandemic Event Protection (HL-PIVOT) Network, Chicago, IL, USA.
⁴ Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare, Department of Mental Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
⁵ Department of Sports Medicine, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Oslo, Norway.
⁶ Department of Chronic Diseases and Ageing, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
⁷ School of Human Movement and Nutrition Science, University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia.

Abstract

Background: Personal Activity Intelligence (PAI) is a new metric for physical activity tracking, and is associated with reduced risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. We prospectively investigated whether PAI is associated with lower body weight gain in a healthy population.

Methods: We included 85,243 participants (40,037 men and 45,206 women) who participated in at least one of three waves of the Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT1: 1984-86, HUNT2: 1995-97, and HUNT3: 2006-08). We used questionnaires to estimate PAI, and linear mixed models to examine body weight according to PAI levels at three study waves. We also conducted regression analyses to assess separate relationships between change in PAI and the combined changes in PAI and physical activity recommendations, according to body weight from HUNT1 to HUNT3.

Findings: Compared with HUNT1, body weight was 8.6 and 6.7 kg higher at HUNT3 for men and women, respectively, but was lower among those with ≥200 PAI at HUNT3. For both sexes, a change from inactive (0 PAI) at HUNT1 to ≥100 weekly PAI-score at HUNT2 and HUNT3, and a ≥100 PAI-score at all three occasions were associated with lower body weight gain, compared with the reference group (0 PAI at all three waves). Importantly, among both sexes, obtaining ≥100 weekly PAI at HUNT1 and HUNT3 was associated with lower body weight gain regardless of adhering to physical activity guidelines.

Interpretation: Adhering to a high PAI over time may be a useful tool to attenuate excessive body weight gain in a population free from cardiovascular disease.

Funding: Norwegian Research Council and the Liaison Committee between the Central Norway Regional Health Authority and the Norwegian University of Science and technology.