The development of the Egyptian 24-h movement guidelines for adults aged 18–50 years old: an integration of sleep, sedentary behavior, and physical activity by the Egyptian Academy of Bone and Muscle Health

Abstract Background With a focus on promoting healthy aging, the Egyptian Academy of Bone and Muscle Health followed a structured guideline development process to create the Egyptian 24-h movement clinical guideline for adults aged 18 to 50. This guideline is in continuation with the earlier published 24-h movement guidelines for children and older adults. Online databases (PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library) were searched for relevant peer-reviewed studies that met the a priori inclusion criteria. Results A large body of evidence was used to inform the guidelines as a total of 56 studies met the inclusion criteria. Leveraging evidence from the review of the literature led to the development of 30 statements answering the 7 key questions. Recommendations were also given for specific conditions including inactivity or insufficiently active adults, chronic conditions disability as well as pregnancy and postpartum. Based on this, the final guideline was developed providing evidence-based recommendations for a “Healthy 24-h day”, based on the integration of resistance training, aerobic activity, balance and flexibility activity, sleep pattern, and sedentary behavior. Conclusion The developed guidelines are meant to help in the decision-making process and are intended for use by adults both nationally and internationally; also, for endorsement by the policymakers. The developed 24-h movement guidelines provide specific targets for each movement behavior, towards which adult Egyptians can work to achieve better health.