The present study examines the temperature variability in physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB), and sleep in a free-living population. A representative sample of 1235 adults (ages 21-70) from Iowa, U.S.A., wore a SenseWear Mini Armband (SWA) for a randomly assigned day. Koppen's weather climate classification was used to precisely classify the temperature: cold (-13 to 32 °F), cool (32 to 50 °F), mild (50 to 64 °F), warm (64 to 73 °F), and hot (73 to 95 °F). The main effect of three-way ANOVA (age × gender × temperature) had differences for SB and sleep, with older adults having higher levels than younger adults (p < 0.05). However, moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) did not vary systematically by age or gender, and contrary to expectations, the main effect of the weather was not significant for MVPA (p > 0.05). Participants spent more time participating in PA at cold than at hot temperatures. The results clarify the impact of temperature on shaping PA and SB patterns in adults. The variable impacts and differential patterns by age suggest that weather should be considered when interpreting differences in PA patterns in research or surveillance applications.
Keywords: accelerometer; physical activity; sedentary behavior; sleep time; temperature.