Associations of self-reported physical activity and depression

The purpose of a study recently published in BMC Public Health was to investigate the cross-sectional associations between self-reported physical activity (PA) and depressive symptoms and status using data from of over 10,000 Irish adults from two existing datasets, i.e. The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) and The Mitchelstown Cohort Study.
The databases of the two studies were pooled  and relevant variables were harmonized. PA was measured using the short form International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Depressive symptoms were measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) questionnaire. Participants were classified as meeting World Health Organization moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) guidelines or not, and divided into tertiles based on weekly minutes of MVPA. A CES-D score of ≥16 indicated elevated depressive symptoms.
Significantly higher depressive symptoms were reported by women than by men. Meeting the PA guidelines was associated with 44.7% lower odds of elevated depressive symptoms., and study participants in the highest PA tertile had 50.8% lower odds of elevated depressive symptoms, than participants in the lowest PA tertile.
In conclusion: meeting the PA guidelines was associated with lower odds of elevated depressive symptoms, and increased volumes of MVPA are associated with lower odds of elevated depressive symptoms.

Data on Determinants Are Needed to Curb the Sedentary Epidemic in Europe

Societal and technological changes have resulted in sitting during most activities of daily living, such as learning, working, travelling and leisure time. Too much time spent in such sedentary activities, or 'sedentary behaviour', is a concern for public health. The European DEDIPAC (Determinants of Diet and Physical Activity) Knowledge Hub coordinated the work of 35 institutions across 12 European member states to investigate the determinants of sedentary behaviour as well as of nutrition behaviours and physical activity. In an earlier paper we provided a brief overview of relevant results of DEDIPAC. In a paper just published in the International Journal of Environment and Public Health, we summarize what was done and provide recommendations concerning research on determinants of sedentary behaviour. DEDIPAC reviewed current evidence, set a theoretical framework and harmonised the available epidemiological data.
The conclusion is that there is a dire lack of data that is exploitable across Europe to inform policy and intervention. There is an urgent need to develop international data collection compliant with FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Re-usable) and standardised surveillance systems for sedentary behaviour.