Objectively measured physical activity in Finnish employees: a cross-sectional study

Objectives: To objectively measure the amount of intensity-specific physical activity by gender and age with respect to body mass index (BMI) during workdays and days off among Finnish employees. Design: A cross-sectional study. Setting: Primary care occupational healthcare units. Participants: A sample of 9554 Finnish employees (4221 men and 5333 women; age range 18-65 years; BMI range 18.5-40 kg/m(2)) who participated in health assessments related to occupational health promotion. Main outcome measurements: The amount of moderate-to-vigorous (MVPA) and vigorous (VPA) physical activity (>= 3 and >= 6 metabolic equivalents, respectively) was assessed by estimating the minute-to-minute oxygen consumption from the recorded beat-to-beat R-R interval data. The estimation method used heart rate, respiration rate and on/off response information from R-R interval data calibrated by age, gender, height, weight and self-reported physical activity class. The proportion of participants fulfilling the aerobic physical activity recommendation of >= 150 min/week was calculated on the basis of >= 10 min bouts, by multiplying the VPA minutes by 2. Results: Both MVPA and VPA were higher among men and during days off, and decreased with increasing age and BMI (p<0.001 for all). Similar results were observed when the probability of having a bout of MVPA or VPA lasting continuously for >= 10 min per measurement day was studied. The total amount of VPA was low among overweight (mean <= 2.6 min/day), obese (mean <= 0.6 min/day) and all women in the age group 51-65 years (mean <= 2.5 min/day) during both types of days. The proportion of participants fulfilling the aerobic physical activity recommendation was highest for normal weight men (65%; 95% CI 62% to 67%) and lowest for obese women (10%; 95% CI 8% to 12%). Conclusions: Objectively measured physical activity is higher among men and during days off, and decreases with increasing age and BMI. The amount of VPA is very low among obese, overweight and older women.