Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jul 1;15(1):21356.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-06325-x.

Sedentary behavior accelerates biological aging mediated by body mass index in adults

Jinhang Che  1 , Jie Huai  1 , Lihong Luo  1 , Yunxiang Tang  1 , Tao Zeng  2
Affiliations

Sedentary behavior accelerates biological aging mediated by body mass index in adults

Jinhang Che et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Sedentary behavior is widely recognized as a detriment to health. Limited conclusions have been drawn about the relationship between sitting time and biomarkers-measured aging. 12,504 eligible adults were included from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007 to 2016. Weighted logistic regression, subgroup analysis, and restricted cubic spline regression were conducted to investigate the association and dose-response relationship between sitting time and phenotypic age acceleration (PhenoAgeAccel). The mediating effect of body mass index (BMI) on this correlation was revealed by mediation analysis. After adjusting for multiple covariates, longer sitting time (4-6 h: OR 1.30, 95%CI 1.06-1.58, p = 0.013; 6-8 h: OR 1.25, 95%CI 1.01-1.55, p = 0.038; ≥8 h: OR 1.58, 95%CI 1.33-1.88, p < 0.001) significantly had higher risk of aging comparing to the reference (< 4 h). The dose-response relationship exhibited an approximately linear dependence. Additionally, BMI partially mediated the association between sitting time and PhenoAgeAccel by a 21.0% proportion. Our study revealed a strong, significant, independent, linear relationship between sitting time and phenotypic age. BMI served as a mediator of the correlation between sitting time and PhenoAgeAccel.

Keywords: Body mass index; Phenotypic age; Sedentary behavior; Sitting time.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Involved individuals were reviewed and approved by the National Center for Health Statistics Research Ethics Review Board. Written informed consent was obtained from each participant to participate in the study, and all information was de-identified ( https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/irba98.htm ). Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Participant sample flowchart.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The association of sitting time with PhenoAgeAccel visualized by restricted cubic spline. Risk ratios were adjusted for age, gender, race, education level, PIR, marital status, BMI, smoking, physical activity, diabetes, CHD, stroke, CHF, and HTN.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Subgroup analysis for the association between sitting time and PhenoAgeAccel. HRs were adjusted for age, gender, race, education level, PIR, marital status, BMI, smoking, physical activity, diabetes, CHD, stroke, CHF, and HTN.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The mediating effect of BMI on the relationship between sitting time and PhenoAgeAccel. Adjusted for age, gender, race, education level, PIR, marital status, BMI, smoking, physical activity, diabetes, CHD, stroke, CHF, and HTN.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Tremblay, M. S. et al. Sedentary behavior research network (SBRN) – Terminology consensus project process and outcome. Int. J. Behav. Nutr. Phys. Activity. 14(1). 10.1186/s12966-017-0525-8 (2017). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Li, S. et al. Association of sitting time with mortality and cardiovascular events in high-income, middle-income, and low-income. JAMA Cardiol.7(8), 796–807. 10.1001/jamacardio.2022.1581 (2022). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Liu, M. et al. Association of accelerometer-measured physical activity intensity, sedentary time, and exercise time with incident Parkinson’s disease. NPJ Digit. Med.6(1), 224. 10.1038/s41746-023-00969-7 (2023). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lin, Z. et al. Correlation between sedentary activity, physical activity and bone mineral density and fat in america: National health and nutrition examination survey, 2011–2018. Sci. Rep.13(1), 10054. 10.1038/s41598-023-35742-z (2023). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bankoski, A. et al. Sedentary activity associated with metabolic syndrome independent of physical activity. Diabetes Care. 34(2), 497–503. 10.2337/dc10-0987 (2011). - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources