Independent and combined effects of physical activity and sedentary behavior on blood pressure in adolescents: gender differences in two cross-sectional studies Ferreira de Moraes, A. C. Barbosa Carvalho, H. Rey-López, Juan P. Gracia Marco, Luis Andrés Beghin, Laurent Kafatos, A. Jiménez Pavón, David Molnar, Dénes Henauw, Stefaan de Manios, Yannis Widhalm, Kurt Ruiz Ruiz, Jonatan Ortega Porcel, Francisco Bartolomé Sjöström, Michael Polito, Ángela Pedrero-Chamizo, R. Marcos, Ascensión Gottrand, Frederic Moreno, L. A. Adolescent Behavior Hypertension Blood presure Accelerometers Cross-sectional study Health Objectives To examine the independent and combined association of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) on both systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in adolescents from two observational studies. Methods Participants from two cross-sectional studies, one conducted in Europe (n = 3,308; HELENA study) and the other in Brazil (n = 991; BRACAH study), were selected by complex sampling. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure (outcomes), PA and SB, both independently and combined, and potential confounders were analyzed. Associations were examined by multilevel linear regression. Results Performing the recommended amount of PA (≥60 min/d) attenuated the effect of SB on DBP in BRACAH study girls and in boys from both studies. In contrast, PA did not attenuate the effects of SB on the SBP of girls in the HELENA study. The combination of less than recommended levels of PA with 2–4 h/d of sedentary behavior was found to be associated with increased SBP in boys from both studies. Conclusions Meeting current PA recommendations could mediate the association between SB and DBP in both sexes. In boys, the joint effect of low levels of PA and excessive sedentary activity increases SBP levels. Longitudinal studies are required to confirm these findings. 2013-10-31T09:31:07Z 2013-10-31T09:31:07Z 2013 info:eu-repo/semantics/article Ferreira de Moraes, A.C.; et al. Independent and combined effects of physical activity and sedentary behavior on blood pressure in adolescents: gender differences in two cross-sectional studies. PLOS One, 8(5): e62006 (2013). [http://hdl.handle.net/10481/28993] 1932-6203 doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0062006 http://hdl.handle.net/10481/28993 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License Public Library of Science (PLOS)