The Optimal Dose of Weekly Physical Activity for Cardiometabolic Health Among U.S. Younger and Older Adults: HINTS 2018-2022

About 55.7 million U.S. older adults have at least one chronic condition, and the guidelines of at least 150 minutes/week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity are recommended to all adults to protect against chronic conditions. However, few studies investigate how physical activity (PA) duration differentially impacts cardiometabolic conditions (CMCs) across distinct age groups. We conducted a cross-sectional study to examine the association between PA levels and CMCs and identify the optimal doses of PA for younger and older adults, using the sample of 12,913 participants from the Health Information National Trends Survey (2018-2022). In adjusted logistic regression models, sufficient PA in both younger (OR = 0.71, 95%CI:0.58, 0.86, p < .01) and older (OR = 0.62, 95%CI:0.51, 0.75, p < .001) age groups were significantly associated with a lower odds ratio of having CMCs. Findings also highlighted that at least 140 minutes/week of PA could protect older adults against CMCs.