A study by Vahid Farrahi and colleagues receives prestigious commendation

The widely acknowledged study showed that even a short interruption in sitting with light activities such as convenient walking could lead to better cardiometabolic health in adults.
Dr. Vahid Farrahi
Dr. Vahid Farrahi, University of Oulu

The commendation was given recently by the prestigious Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports (SJMSS).

The commendation recognized the articles published in SJMSS in 2021 with high level of scientific rigor, making significant contribution to sport and exercise science and medicine. The best articles were selected by a panel consisting of the Senior Section Editors of the journal.

In the section for Health, Disease & Physical Activity, the award committee honored the article “Accumulation patterns of sedentary time and breaks and their association with cardiometabolic health markers in adults” by Dr. Vahid Farrahi and colleagues from the University of Oulu.

“We let the data speak. The study used a data-driven approach and huge amount of data, and confirmed that more movement of any form and duration is better than sitting”, says Dr. Farrahi, the first author of the study.

The study was part of Dr. Vahid Farrahi’s award-winning doctoral thesis and part of the Northern Finland birth cohort 1966 program. The study consisted of more than 4 000 participants, who underwent a clinical examination and completed an extensive health and lifestyle questionnaire at the age of 46 years. Physical activity and sedentary time were measured with an activity monitor for a period of two weeks.

The study was carried out at the University of Oulu and the Oulu Deaconess Institute Department of Sports and Exercise Medicine and it was funded by the EU H2020 MSCA COFUND and the Ministry of Education and Culture, Finland.

Research publication: Farrahi V, Kangas M, Kiviniemi A, Puukka K, Korpelainen R, Jämsä T. “Accumulation patterns of sedentary time and breaks and their association with cardiometabolic health markers in adults.” Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2021;31(7):1489- 1507. Doi: 10.1111/sms.13958

Editorial note: Harridge SDR. “SJMSS Paper of the year 2021.” Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2022;32:450–451. Doi: 10.1111/sms.14139

Dr. Vahid Farrahi’s researcher profile

Last updated: 15.2.2023