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Background Dog ownership (DO) has been associated with higher levels of self-reported walking and physical activity. However, compared to device-based measures, self-reported measures of physical activity may suffer from bias due to recall and social desirability. They are also incapable of quantifying light-intensity physical activity (LPA) and step volume, both of which may have important health benefits, especially for older adults. In this study, we investigated the association of DO with accelerometer-measured physical activity of different intensities and daily steps in 70-year-old individuals. Methods This was a population-based cross-sectional study including 1406 participants aged 70 years [54.1% female] who participated in a health survey in Umeå, Sweden between February 2017–November 2019. All participants self-reported DO [yes/no]. Daily averages of LPA, moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA), and steps per day [steps/d] were measured for 1 week using hip-mounted Actigraph GT3X+ accelerometers. Associations were investigated using linear- and logistic regression models, adjusted for sociodemographic and health-related factors, date of examination, and accelerometer wear time. Results The prevalence of DO was 14.1% [N = 199]. After adjustment for all covariates, DO was associated with 19.2 more minutes/d of LPA [95% CI, 8.8–29.6], 11.4 more minutes/d of MVPA [95% CI, 8.0–14.9] and 1738 more steps/d [95% CI, 1326–2149]. DO was also associated with twice the odds of meeting the physical activity recommendations [OR, 2.07, 95% CI, 1.48–2.90]. Exploratory interaction analyses showed that the association between DO and steps/d was stronger [Pinteraction = 0.030] in female [β = 2165, 95% CI, 1585–2744] than in male [β =1255, 95% CI, 664–1845], with a similar trend for MVPA [Pinteraction = 0.082]. Conclusions In this study of community-dwelling 70-year-old individuals, DO was associated with higher levels of daily LPA, MVPA, and steps. With the limitation of the observational design of the study, these findings add knowledge regarding the beneficial role that DO may play for promoting physical activity in the older population. In turn, these findings could support the development and evaluation of targeted interventions seeking to promote dog-friendly environments and facilitate dog walking in the community.

Additional file 1.

Additional file 1. Hazard ratios for incident diabetes in the study cohort according to different stepping cut-points, body mass index and visceral adipose tissue.

Additional file 3. Written description of the exercises used in the training program.

INTRODUCTION: Surveillance of physical activity at the population level increases the knowledge on levels and trends of physical activity, which may support public health initiatives to promote physical activity. Physical activity assessed by accelerometry is challenged by varying data processing procedures, which influences the outcome. We aimed to describe the levels and prevalence estimates of physical activity, and to examine how triaxial and uniaxial accelerometry data influences these estimates, in a large population-based cohort of Norwegian adults. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 5918 women and men aged 40-84 years who participated in the seventh wave of the Tromsø Study (2015-16). The participants wore an ActiGraph wGT3X-BT accelerometer attached to the hip for 24 hours per day over seven consecutive days. Accelerometry variables were expressed as volume (counts·minute-1 and steps·day-1) and as minutes per day in sedentary, light physical activity and moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA). RESULTS: From triaxial accelerometry data, 22% (95% confidence interval (CI): 21-23%) of the participants fulfilled the current global recommendations for physical activity (≥150 minutes of MVPA per week in ≥10-minute bouts), while 70% (95% CI: 69-71%) accumulated ≥150 minutes of non-bouted MVPA per week. When analysing uniaxial data, 18% fulfilled the current recommendations (i.e. 20% difference compared with triaxial data), and 55% (95% CI: 53-56%) accumulated ≥150 minutes of non-bouted MVPA per week. We observed approximately 100 less minutes of sedentary time and 90 minutes more of light physical activity from triaxial data compared with uniaxial data (p