Clustering 24-Hour Movement Behaviours Among Adults in 16 European Countries (2008–2015): A Behavioural Typology Approach

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to identify and characterise distinct 24-hour movement behaviour profiles among adults across 16 European countries using proportional data on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), light physical activity (LIPA), sedentary behaviour (SB), and sleep duration (SD) 2.

Methods: Data came from the Harmonized European Time Use Surveys (HETUS, Wave 2, 2008–2015) including adults aged 18–80+ (N ≈ 181,000). Each participant completed two 24-hour diaries coded into 144 ten-minute intervals. Activities were assigned metabolic equivalent of task (MET) values based on the 2024 Compendium and aggregated 3 into MVPA, LIPA, SB, and SD. Time in each behaviour was expressed as a proportion of the 24-hour day 1.

Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was applied separately by sex and age group to identify movement behaviour profiles using the tidyLPA 4 package in R (v4.5.0). Models with two to six profiles were estimated under equal variance and zero-covariance assumptions. Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) and entropy guided selection of the optimal number of profiles.

Results: Four stable profiles consistently emerged:

-           Sedentary Short-Sleepers (high SB, low SD, low MVPA/LIPA)

-           Active Balanced Types (moderate MVPA/LIPA, balanced SB and SD)

-           Lightly Active Long Sleepers (high LIPA and SD, low SB)

-           Highly Active Short Sleepers (high MVPA, low SD)

Profile distributions varied by sex and age. Younger adults showed a higher likelihood of MVPA-dominant profiles, whereas older adults tended toward light activity and long sleep profiles.

Conclusions: Four distinct and recurring 24-hour movement behaviour profiles emerged among European adults. These profiles reflect diverse combinations of activity, sedentary time, and sleep, underscoring the need for population-specific approaches to movement-behaviour promotion.

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