Associations of Meeting 24-hour Movement Guidelines with Stress and Self-rated Health among Adults: Is Meeting more Guidelines Associated with Greater Benefits?

Abstract Background: Several countries have recently issued 24-hour movement guidelines for adults. From a public health perspective, it is important to explore the health benefits of meeting the 24-hour movement guidelines. This study, therefore, aimed to explore the associations of meeting the 24-hour movement guidelines with stress and self-rated health among adults, and whether the likelihood of favourable outcomes increases with the number of movement guidelines met.Methods: A total of 2476 adults participated in our survey. The participants were categorised depending on whether they met the combined 24-hour movement guidelines, any combination of two individual guidelines, or any individual guideline. The associations of meeting the movement guidelines with stress and self-rated health were analysed using ordinal logistic regression models.Results: Significantly lower odds of reporting higher frequency of stress were found for those who met the combined 24-hour movement guidelines (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 0.45; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.32, 0.63; p < 0.001), any combination of two guidelines (OR range: 0.48 – 0.63; p < 0.05 for all), and sleep guideline only (OR = 0.51; 95% CI: 0.35, 0.75; p = 0.001). Significantly higher odds of reporting better self-rated health were found for those who met the combined 24-hour movement guidelines (OR = 2.94; 95% CI: 2.07, 4.19; p < 0.001), combination of MVPA and SB guidelines (OR = 2.33; 95% CI: 1.57, 3.44; p < 0.001), combination of MVPA and sleep guidelines (OR = 1.78; 95% CI: 1.23, 2.59; p = 0.002), and MVPA guideline only (OR = 2.24; 95% CI: 1.50, 3.36; p < 0.001). Meeting more guidelines was associated with greater odds of favourable outcomes (p for linear trend < 0.001). Conclusion: Adults who meet the sleep guideline, any combination of two guidelines, or all three guidelines experience stress less frequently. Meeting the MVPA guideline alone or in combination with any other movement behaviour guideline was associated with better self-rated health. The likelihood of less frequent stress and better self-rated health increases with the number of guidelines met. These findings highlight the public health importance of encouraging adults to meet as many movement behaviour guidelines as possible.