The article "Active Lifestyle, Physical Activity, and Premature Cardiometabolic Mortality in Canada: A Nationwide Cohort Study" examines and reveals important associations between active lifestyle (ALE), physical activity, and premature cardiometabolic mortality.
They used linked administrative data from nearly 250,000 respondents from the Canadian Community Health Survey and death registries in the Canadian Mortality Database to conduct a retrospective population-based cohort study.
This rich set of linked data contains information on social and demographic characteristics, as well as health behaviors of the cohort – including physical activity and leisure-time walking.
These people's neighborhoods were then linked to the Canadian Active Living Environment (Can-ALE) database to see if living in communities more conducive to active living was associated with physical activity, walking and premature death. cardiometabolic death.
The authors examined the relationships between active lifestyles, physical activity, and premature cardiometabolic death. The cohort was stratified by gender as well as by age group (older, middle-aged). To estimate premature death, different follow-up periods were used to account for differences in life expectancy between women (life expectancy ~85 years) and men (~81 years) in Canada.
The results showed that, on average, people tended to walk more in affluent neighborhoods and that more walking was associated with lower premature cardiometabolic death (except for middle-aged men in this study).
Survival analysis showed that more favorable ALEs were associated with a 22% reduction in premature cardiometabolic mortality in older women.
The built environment is of great importance in shaping both behavior and downstream health. Urban planning that prioritizes quality active living environments can be an effective way to promote physical activity and reduce premature cardiometabolic death.
Research suggests that decision makers seeking to improve health outcomes in their communities should consider supporting interventions aimed at making neighborhoods more conducive to active living.