Conference Agenda
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WR3_1_3: Symposium: Integration of Physical Activity, Nutrition and Sleep Across the Life Course: Towards Coherent Public Health Action Location: White room 3 Session Chair: Mojca Gabrijelčič | |
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Integration of Physical Activity, Nutrition and Sleep Across the Life Course: Towards Coherent Public Health Action Purpose: Physical activity, nutrition, and sleep are interdependent behaviours that jointly shape health and well-being across the life course. Despite growing evidence of their reciprocal relationships, surveillance, research and policy implementation frequently address them separately, also while engaging relevant stakeholders and rightholders. This symposium aims to present an integrated perspective positioning three independent health behaviours as interconnected health determinants, and to explore implications of such integration for public health action. Methods: The symposium includes complementary presentations, descriptively addressing the interconnected roles of nutrition, physical activity, and sleep in public health, as following: (1) nutrition as a core health determinant via the JAPreventNCD cross-cutting theme approach; (2) JAPreventNCD innovative monitoring of physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleep as population-level risk factors for NCDs, and the SLOfit system as an national example of lifelong monitoring of fitness and 24-hour movement behaviours; (3) the first EU level structural level sleep survey in JAPreventNCD and national level actions; (4) the final WHO contribution synthesises current evidence and importance of the interconnections among the three behaviours and implications for integrated policy action. Results: The symposium audience is (via Slido and Q&A) proactively invited to exchange with presenters on how physical activity, nutrition, and sleep can be better recognized as three health determinants while synergistically integrated within public health policy and practice. The discussion will explore ways to strengthen cross-sectoral collaboration and move beyond siloed approaches toward coordinated, systems-based action across the life course, addressing effectively all relevant stakeholders. Conclusions: A systems-based, life-course approach integrating nutrition, physical activity, and sleep can strengthen policy coherence and improve noncommunicable disease prevention and health promotion. JA PreventNCD highlights the need for coordinated policies addressing the synergies between these key lifestyle determinants. Support/Funding Source: The symposium is steaming from the JA PreventNCD work and is supported by the WHO expertise. Presentations of the Symposium Nutrition as the key cornerstone of the healthy lifestyle – the values of independent and of interconnected approach Purpose: Nutrition is an important lifestyle determinant, defined as the quality, quantity, and timing of food intake that provides energy and essential nutrients for growth, maintenance, and regulation of bodily functions across the life course. Methods: Descriptive overview in the area of nutrition, addressing it from the protective and risk factors perspective at the individual and structural levels. Analysis of the JA PreventNCD actions in food and nutrition will be added, reflecting the priorities of EU member States in this area. Results: Healthy nutrition is important protective factor crucial for growth and development, cardiometabolic regulation, immune function and long-term health. It enhances energy availability and recovery, stabilises appetite regulation, and creates favourable conditions for sustained physical activity and healthy sleep. In contrast, poor dietary quality, excessive intake of energy-dense UPF, irregular meal timing, or chronic undernutrition are key risk factors. These patterns disrupt metabolic and hormonal regulation, increase fatigue and inflammation, impair sleep quality, reduce physical activity capacity, and substantially elevate the risk of obesity and other NCDs. Addressing nutrition extends beyond individual choice and requires coordinated action across policies, stakeholders, and environments, while promoting equal opportunities. JA PreventNCD surveillance and monitoring, pilots and policy actions in nutrition (and physical activity where relevant), will be presented to highlight the EU priorities in that area. Conclusions: Within the triad of nutrition, physical activity and sleep, nutrition occupies a distinct physiological position while remaining tightly interconnected with the other two behaviours, and is defined as such in JAPreventNCD. Monitoring physical activity, sedentary time and sleep as risk factors for cancer & NCDs in population-based samples Purpose: Physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour (SB) are associated with higher risk of many NCDs, e.g. cancers, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, mental health problems and higher risk for mortality. However, physical activity (PA) and SB are very rarely regularly objectively measured in population-based samples. Therefore, a group of scientists created a plan to monitor PA, SB and sleep as risk factors of NCDs in population-based sample and the plan was funded as a pilot of the JA Prevent-Cancer and NCDs. Methods: The pilot is the first attempt to harmonize, and pilot test a monitoring system for PA, SB and sleep by data collection using raw acceleration data, 24-7 simultaneously in several European countries (Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Slovenia and Sweden). As a secondary (optional) aim, we will collect standardized data on biological risk factors (e.g. body composition, physical fitness, blood samples), and self-reported determinants for risk of NCDs. The target group is 20-69 years, working-aged adults (min 500/country). Results: The pilot allows better comparison in several risk factors between countries when the individual studies are executed in each country using similar sampling, data collection, data analysis, etc. The results obtained will allow a new type of risk evaluation of risk factors of cancer and other NCDs. Conclusion: Success will be evaluated based on participation rate, percentage valid data points (i.e. individuals), time and manpower requirements. If successful, this project has potential to be scaled up to a harmonized surveillance system for key health determinants across EU member states. SLOfit: Enhancing Health Literacy and Policy Making via Lifelong Fitness and 24-Hour Movement Behaviour Monitoring Purpose: Despite fitness being a premier health indicator, it is often underutilized by policymakers. Slovenia addressed this by evolving its 40-year student monitoring legacy into SLOfit—a national lifelong surveillance system. By utilizing a "bottom-up" engagement strategy, SLOfit generates high-level data for evidence-based policy while empowering individuals. Methods: Using an extensive longitudinal database, SLOfit established national reference values and a multi-channel intervention strategy:
Results: SLOfit has successfully transitioned into a nationwide health literacy tool. It grants individuals agency over their fitness while providing the state with a sophisticated mechanism to promptly detect population trends and implement targeted public health interventions. Conclusions: The SLOfit model demonstrates how mature monitoring can evolve into a dynamic surveillance tool serving both citizens and policymakers. By fostering lifelong engagement, it positions physical fitness as a cornerstone of national health policy and a catalyst for HEPA across all life stages. A review of progress in integrating sleep as health determinant alongside nutrition and physical activity Purpose: Sleep is acknowledged within 24-hour movement behaviour, as a key determinant of health. As an autonomous physiological process with systemic effects on physical, mental, and social functioning, sleep represents both a protective health factor and a pathway through which risks accumulate when disrupted. From a public health perspective sleep should be addressed as a cross-sectoral priority and recognised as a third core pillar of health, alongside nutrition and physical activity. Methods: A descriptive overview of current evidence on sleep, addressing protective and risk factors at both individual and structural levels, will be provided. The JA PreventNCD action on sleep will be presented, reflecting the situational analysis in this field. National actions and priorities in Slovenia will be reviewed, including World Sleep Day activities (2020-2025) classified by target groups, thematic areas, and dissemination channels. Results: Protective and risky sleep related behaviours will be described at the biopsychosocial levels. The JA PreventNCD sleep questionnaire will be presented, focusing on policies, promotion, prevention and research in the field of sleep. The tool enables the identification of policy enablers, barriers and future development needs globally. World Sleep Day will be highlighted as an example of raising awareness of sleep as a foundation of public health and prevention. Conclusions: Integrating sleep through biopsychosocial perspective can strengthen policy coherence and support more sustainable health promotion. More effective action requires coordinated engagement of health system, education, employers, policymakers, professional societies and communities. Integrating Physical Activity, Nutrition and Sleep Across the Life Course Purpose: Physical activity, nutrition, and sleep are core behaviours that shape health and well-being across the life course. While each behaviour has been extensively studied in isolation, growing evidence highlights that their interactions are critical for understanding health trajectories and for designing effective health promotion strategies. This symposium adopts an integrative perspective, positioning physical activity, nutrition, and sleep as interdependent behaviours embedded within shared biological, behavioural, and social systems. Methods: Across the life course, physical activity influences metabolic health, body composition, mental well-being, and sleep quality, while nutritional intake provides the physiological foundation for energy balance, recovery, and adaptation to movement. Sleep plays a central regulatory role, affecting hormonal balance, appetite regulation, cognitive function, and the capacity to engage in and benefit from physical activity. Results: Despite this interconnectedness, research, policy, and practice frequently address these behaviours separately, limiting opportunities to leverage their combined effects. A life-course approach offers a unifying framework to examine how the relationships among physical activity, nutrition, and sleep evolve across different stages of life and in varying environmental and socio-cultural contexts. Conclusions: This presentation will synthesise current evidence on the relationships among physical activity, nutrition, and sleep and provide a conceptual foundation for the complementary symposium contributions focusing individually on nutrition, physical activity, and sleep. By highlighting shared mechanisms, reciprocal influences, and implications for integrated interventions, the symposium aims to advance more holistic approaches to health promotion and noncommunicable disease prevention across populations. | |
