Health associations with meeting the Canadian 24-hour movement guidelines for adults: Results from the Canadian Health Measures Survey.

Background: The Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Adults (18-64 years and 65 years or older) were launched in October 2020 and provide evidence-based recommendations for physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep. The purpose of this study was to examine whether meeting the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines overall, and different combinations of recommendations within the guidelines, was associated with health indicators in a representative sample of Canadian adults.

Data and methods: Participants were 8,297 adults aged 18 to 79 from cycles 1 to 3 of the Canadian Health Measures Survey. They were classified as meeting or not meeting each of the recommendations required for overall guideline adherence: moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (150 minutes or more per week), sedentary behaviour (8 hours or less per day or 9 hours or less per day of sedentary time, including 3 hours or less per day of recreational screen time) and sleep duration (7 to 9 hours per day for adults 18 to 64 years old, 7 to 8 hours per day for adults aged 65 years or older). A combination of self-reported and device-based measures were used. Indicators of adiposity (n=2), aerobic fitness (n=1) and cardiometabolic health (n=7) were measured.

Results: A total of 19.1% of the sample met none of the recommendations, 43.9% met one of them, 29.8% met two and 7.1% met all three. Compared with meeting no recommendations, meeting one, two and all three recommendations was associated with better health for one, six and seven health indicators, respectively (p < 0.05). Compared with adults meeting two or fewer recommendations, those who met all three recommendations had more favourable body mass index; waist circumference; aerobic fitness scores; and triglyceride, insulin, C-reactive protein and serum glucose levels (p < 0.05).

Interpretation: These findings provide support for the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines and show that less than 1 in 10 Canadian adults are meeting all three of the healthy movement behaviour guidelines.