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. 2017 Dec;27(12):1902-1912.
doi: 10.1111/sms.12837. Epub 2017 Jan 20.

Diversity of leisure-time sport activities in adolescence as a predictor of leisure-time physical activity in adulthood

S Mäkelä  1 , S Aaltonen  1   2 , T Korhonen  1   3   4 , R J Rose  5 , J Kaprio  1   3   6
Affiliations

Diversity of leisure-time sport activities in adolescence as a predictor of leisure-time physical activity in adulthood

S Mäkelä et al. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2017 Dec.

Abstract

Because sustained physical activity is important for a healthy life, this paper examined whether a greater diversity of sport activities during adolescence predicts higher levels of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) in adulthood. From sport activity participation reported by 17-year-old twins, we formed five groups: 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5+ different sport activities. At follow-up in their mid-thirties, twins were divided into four activity classes based on LTPA, including active commuting. Multinomial regression analyses, adjusted for several confounders, were conducted separately for male (N=1288) and female (N=1770) participants. Further, conditional logistic regression analysis included 23 twin pairs discordant for both diversity of sport activities in adolescence and LTPA in adulthood. The diversity of leisure-time sport activities in adolescence had a significant positive association with adulthood LTPA among females. Membership in the most active adult quartile, compared to the least active quartile, was predicted by participation in 2, 3, 4, and 5+ sport activities in adolescence with odds ratios: 1.52 (P=.11), 1.86 (P=.02), 1.29 (P=.39), and 3.12 (P=5.4e-05), respectively. Within-pair analyses, limited by the small sample of twins discordant for both adolescent activities and adult outcomes, did not replicate the association. A greater diversity of leisure-time sport activities in adolescence predicts higher levels of LTPA in adulthood in females, but the causal nature of this association remains unresolved.

Keywords: behavioral epidemiology; cohort study; exercise; longitudinal; twin study; youth.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Formation of the study sample
Survey timepoints of the FinnTwin16 project and formation of the study sample showing the inclusion criteria and excluded individuals.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Membership in the most active vs. the least active quartile in adulthood (based on Full model results presented in Table 2)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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