A systematic review of cross-sectional studies on the association of sedentary behavior with cardiometabolic diseases and related biomarkers in South American adults

Abstract

Introduction: sedentary behavior (SB) has been independently associated with detrimental health outcomes in different regions worldwide. The aim of this systematic review was to examine whether domain-specific SB is associated with cardiometabolic diseases (CMD) and related biomarkers in South American adults. Methods: nine electronic databases were searched to identify all studies that analyzed the association between SB and CMD -e.g. obesity, diabetes, hypertension, metabolic syndrome (MetS) and clustering of chronic diseases (CCD) - and related biomarkers in South American adults. Two independent reviewers performed the necessary Abstract/full-text screening, data abstraction, and quality assessments. The review protocol was registered in the PROSPERO database (CRD42018099319). Results: from the 1,262 articles identified in the search 262 were reviewed in full and 20 were used in the analysis in accordance to the inclusion criteria. High SB (mainly sitting and TV time) was associated with an increased likelihood of obesity (n = 8), diabetes (n = 6), and CCD (n = 3), as well as high values of BMI (n = 8), WC (n = 7), % BF (n = 4), plasma lipids (n = 4), and glycemia (n = 5). Eleven out of 20 studies were of higher quality. Conclusion: long time spent in SB, mainly sitting and TV time, was positively associated with the occurrence of CMD and related biomarkers in South American adults.