Sedentary Behaviour and Telomere Length Shortening during Early Childhood: Evidence from the Multicentre Prospective INMA Cohort Study

Daniel Prieto-Botella, Dries S. Martens, Desiree Valera-Gran (), Mikel Subiza-Pérez, Adonina Tardón, Manuel Lozano, Maribel Casas, Mariona Bustamante, Alba Jimeno-Romero, Ana Fernández-Somoano, Sabrina Llop, Martine Vrijheid, Tim S. Nawrot and Eva-María Navarrete-Muñoz
Additional contact information
Daniel Prieto-Botella: Department of Surgery and Pathology, Miguel Hernandez University, 03550 Alicante, Spain
Dries S. Martens: Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Agoralaan Gebouw D, BE-3590 Hasselt, Belgium
Desiree Valera-Gran: Department of Surgery and Pathology, Miguel Hernandez University, 03550 Alicante, Spain
Mikel Subiza-Pérez: Biodonostia Health Research Institute, Group of Environmental Epidemiology and Child Development, 20014 San Sebastian, Spain
Adonina Tardón: Unidad de Epidemiología Molecular del Cáncer, Departamento de Medicina, Instituto Universitario de Oncología del Principado de Asturias (IUOPA), Universidad de Oviedo, Julián Clavería Street s/n, 33006 Oviedo, Spain
Manuel Lozano: Epidemiology and Environmental Health Joint Research Unit, FISABIO-Universitat Jaume I-Universitat de València, 46020 Valencia, Spain
Maribel Casas: Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, Spain
Mariona Bustamante: Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, Spain
Alba Jimeno-Romero: Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), 48940 Leioa, Spain
Ana Fernández-Somoano: Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, Spain
Sabrina Llop: Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, Spain
Martine Vrijheid: Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, Spain
Tim S. Nawrot: Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Agoralaan Gebouw D, BE-3590 Hasselt, Belgium
Eva-María Navarrete-Muñoz: Department of Surgery and Pathology, Miguel Hernandez University, 03550 Alicante, Spain

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 6, 1-12

Abstract: Sedentary behaviour (SB) may be related to telomere length (TL) attrition due to a possible pro-inflammatory effect. This study examined the association between parent-reported sedentary behaviour (SB) and leukocyte TL at the age of 4 and telomere tracking from 4 to 8 years. In the Spanish birth cohort Infancia y Medio Ambiente (INMA) project, we analysed data from children who attended follow-up visits at age 4 (n = 669) and 8 (n = 530). Multiple robust regression models were used to explore the associations between mean daily hours of SB (screen time, other sedentary activities, and total SB) at 4 years categorised into tertiles and TL at 4 years and difference in TL rank between age 4 and 8, respectively. At the age of 4, the results showed that children with the highest screen time (1.6–5.0 h/day) had a shorter TL of −3.9% (95% CI: −7.4, −0.4; p = 0.03) compared with children in the lowest tertile (0.0–1.0 h/day). Between 4 and 8 years, a higher screen time (highest tertile group vs. lowest tertile) was associated with a decrease in the LTL rank of −1.9% (95% CI: −3.8, −0.1; p = 0.03) from 4 to 8 years. Children exposed to a higher screen time at 4 years were more prone to have shorter TL at 4 and between 4 and 8 years of age. This study supports the potential negative effect of SB during childhood on cellular longevity.

Keywords: lifestyle; children; genetics; screen time; epigenetics; cellular longevity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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