Author: Gary O’Donovan (Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia. Email: g.odonovan@uniandes.edu.co)

Large studies have shown that the risk of cardiometabolic disease (1) and the risk of death (2,3) are reduced to similar extents in ‘weekend warriors’ who exercise once or twice per week and in the ‘regularly active’ who exercise more often. Our recent study in BJSM suggests that the risk of mild dementia is also reduced to a similar extent in weekend warriors and the regularly active (4). Our novel and important study is summarized below. 

Why is our study novel?

Cross-sectional studies in Europe and North America suggest that the weekend warrior physical activity pattern is associated with reduced risk of mental disorder (5,6). Our study is the first longitudinal study anywhere in the world to suggest that the weekend warrior physical activity pattern is associated with reduced risk of mental disorder.

Why is our study important?

Lack of time is a major barrier to physical activity around the world and most men and women say they would like to do more sport and exercise (7). Our study is important because it shows that the weekend warrior physical activity pattern could be a healthy option for busy people. Our study is also important because it provides further justification for weekly physical activity interventions such as parkrun and the Ciclovía Recreativa.

How did we conduct our investigation?

We used data from more than 10,000 participants in the Mexico City Prospective Study. Questionnaires were used to assess physical activity between 1998 and 2004. Those who exercised once or twice per week were termed weekend warriors and those who exercised more often were termed regularly active. A mini mental state examination (MMSE) was used to assess cognitive function between 2015 to 2019. Various thresholds have been used to define mild dementia and those who scored 22 or less out of 30 on the MMSE (main analysis) and those who scored 23 or less out of 30 on the MMSE (secondary analysis) were considered to have mild dementia.

What did we find?

Compared with participants who reported no sport or exercise, the risk of mild dementia was reduced by an average of 15% in the weekend warriors and 10% in the regularly active after adjusting for age, sex, education, income, blood pressure, smoking, body mass index, civil status, sleep, diet, and alcohol. 

What are the key take-home points?

The proportion of people living with dementia is predicted to increase by around 75% by 2050 in the UK and other countries in Western Europe and by around 200% in Mexico and other countries in Latin America (8). Our study suggests that there is a substantial reduction in the risk of mild dementia in weekend warriors who exercise once or twice per week. The physical and mental benefits of the weekend warrior physical activity pattern are such that policy makers around the world should do more to implement weekly physical activity interventions that have been shown to be popular and cost-effective, such as parkrun (9) and the Ciclovía Recreativa (10).

References

1. Kany S, Al-Alusi MA, Rämö JT, et al. Associations of “Weekend Warrior” Physical Activity With Incident Disease and Cardiometabolic Health. Circulation: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.124.068669.
2. O’Donovan G, Lee IM, Hamer M, et al. Association of “Weekend Warrior” and Other Leisure Time Physical Activity Patterns With Risks for All-Cause, Cardiovascular Disease, and Cancer Mortality. JAMA Intern Med 2017; 177(3): 335-42.
3. O’Donovan G, Petermann-Rocha F, Ferrari G, et al. Associations of the ‘weekend warrior’ physical activity pattern with all-cause, cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality: the Mexico City Prospective Study. Br J Sports Med 2024; 58(7): 359-65.
4. O’Donovan G, Petermann-Rocha F, Ferrari G, et al. Associations of the ‘weekend warrior’ physical activity pattern with mild dementia: findings from the Mexico City Prospective Study. Br J Sports Med: DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2024-108460.
5. Liang JH, Huang S, Pu YQ, et al. Whether weekend warrior activity and other leisure-time physical activity pattern reduce the risk of depression symptom in the representative adults? A population-based analysis of NHANES 2007-2020. J Affect Disord 2023; 340: 329-39.
6. Hamer M, Biddle SJH, Stamatakis E. Weekend warrior physical activity pattern and common mental disorder: a population wide study of 108,011 British adults. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2017; 14(1): 96.
7. IPSOS. Global views on sports: 58% globally would like to practice more. 2021. https://www.ipsos.com/en/global-views-to-sports-2021 (accessed February 2024).
8. GBD 2019 Dementia Forecasting Collaborators. Estimation of the global prevalence of dementia in 2019 and forecasted prevalence in 2050: an analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Lancet Public Health 2022; 7(2): e105-e25.
9. parkrun. New study reveals parkrun delivers at least £150 million in annual wellbeing impact in the UK. 2021. https://blog.parkrun.com/uk/2021/12/23/new-study-reveals-parkrun-delivers-at-least-150-million-in-annual-wellbeing-impact-in-the-uk/ (accessed February 2024).
10. Velazquez-Cortes D, Nieuwenhuijsen MJ, Jerrett M, et al. Health benefits of Open Streets programmes in Latin America: a quantitative health impact assessment. Lancet Planet Health 2023; 7(7): e590-e9.