Association of accelerometer-measured sedentary time, light intensity physical activity levels with cardiometabolic disease risk in Indian office workers: Insights from the SMART-STEP study

Background and aims: Sedentary time (ST) is found to be an independent risk for cardiometabolic disease (CMD). While moderate to vigorous physical activity has demonstrated clear benefits in reducing the risk of CMD, only a fraction of the world's population meets the recommended levels. The benefits of easily attainable light-intensity physical activity (LIPA) on CMD risk factors are seldom explored. Our study aimed to explore the association of accelerometer-measured ST and LIPA with CMD risk among Indian office workers. Methods: ST and LIPA were recorded using a hip-worn accelerometer (Actigraph) for seven consecutive days, while CMD risk factors were evaluated in 130 insufficiently active office workers. The association of accelerometer-measured ST and LIPA with CMD risk factors were examined using multivariate regression. Results: Higher ST were positively associated with high body mass index (β = 0.330, p < 0.001) and body fat percentage (β = 0.422, p < 0.001), while LIPA exhibited an inverse relationship with the above variables. Additionally, higher LIPA was associated to low fasting blood sugar levels (FBS) (β = −0.308, p = 0.023). Similarly, high ST was associated with low heart rate variability (HRV) (β = −0.407, p = 0.024) while high LIPA was associated with high HRV (β = 0.379, p = 0.003). However, the associations remain insignificant for majority of other CMD risk factors. Conclusion: Elevated ST is consistently linked to higher body mass, FBS and lower HRV (an indicator of autonomic stability). LIPA is associated with lower risk of above variables. Still, the association of ST and LIPA with other CMD risk factors remain uncertain. Longitudinal studies with larger samples of Indian office workers is needed to validate the present study findings.