Anxiety is debilitating and associated with numerous mental and physical comorbidities. There is a need to identify and investigate low-risk prevention and treatment strategies. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between different volumes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (PA) and anxiety symptoms and status among older adults in Ireland.

Participants (n = 4175; 56.8% female) aged ⩾50 years completed the International PA Questionnaire (IPAQ) at baseline, and the anxiety subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale at baseline and follow-up (2009–2013). Participants were classified according to meeting World Health Organisation PA guidelines, and divided into IPAQ categories. Respondents without anxiety at baseline (n = 3165) were included in prospective analyses. Data were analysed in 2017.

Anxiety symptoms were significantly higher among females than males (p < 0.001). Models were adjusted for age, sex, waist circumference, social class, smoking status and pain. In cross-sectional analyses, meeting PA guidelines was associated with 9.3% (OR = 0.91, 95% confidence interval 0.78–1.06) lower odds of anxiety. Compared with the inactive group, the minimally- and very-active groups were associated with 8.4% (OR = 0.92, 0.76–1.10) and 18.8% (OR = 0.81, 0.67–0.98) lower odds of anxiety, respectively. In prospective analyses, meeting guidelines was associated with 6.3% (OR = 0.94, 0.63–1.40) reduced odds of anxiety. Compared with the inactive group, the minimally and very-active groups were associated with 43.5% (OR = 1.44, 0.89–2.32) increased, and 4.3% (OR = 0.96, 0.56–1.63) reduced odds of anxiety. The presence of pain, included in models as a covariate, was associated with a 108.7% (OR = 2.09, 1.80–2.42) increase in odds of prevalent anxiety, and a 109.7% (OR = 2.10, 1.41–3.11) increase in odds of incident anxiety.

High volumes of PA are cross-sectionally associated with lower anxiety symptoms and status, with a potential dose–response apparent. However, significant associations were not observed in prospective analyses. The low absolute number of incident anxiety cases (n = 109) potentially influenced these findings. Further, as older adults may tend to experience and/or report more somatic anxiety symptoms, and the HADS focuses primarily on cognitive symptoms, it is plausible that the HADS was not an optimal measure of anxiety symptoms in the current population.

To assess race-specific validity of food and food group intakes measured using an FFQ.

Calibration study participants were randomly selected from the Adventist Health Study-2 (AHS-2) cohort by church, and then by subject-within-church. Intakes of forty-seven foods and food groups were assessed using an FFQ and then compared with intake estimates measured using six 24 h dietary recalls (24HDR). We used two approaches to assess the validity of the questionnaire: (i) cross-classification by quartile and (ii) de-attenuated correlation coefficients.

Seventh-day Adventist church members geographically spread throughout the USA and Canada.

Members of the AHS-2 calibration study (550 whites and 461 blacks).

The proportion of participants with exact quartile agreement in the FFQ and 24HDR averaged 46 % (range: 29–87 %) in whites and 44 % (range: 25–88 %) in blacks. The proportion of quartile gross misclassification ranged from 1 % to 11 % in whites and from 1 % to 15 % in blacks. De-attenuated validity correlations averaged 0·59 in whites and 0·48 in blacks. Of the forty-seven foods and food groups, forty-three in whites and thirty-three in blacks had validity correlations >0·4.

The AHS-2 questionnaire has good validity for most foods in both races; however, validity correlations tend to be higher in whites than in blacks.

To validate a 204-item quantitative FFQ for measurement of nutrient intake in the Adventist Health Study-2 (AHS-2).

Calibration study participants were randomly selected from the AHS-2 cohort by church, and then subject-within-church. Each participant provided two sets of three weighted 24 h dietary recalls and a 204-item FFQ. Race-specific correlation coefficients (r), corrected for attenuation from within-person variation in the recalls, were calculated for selected energy-adjusted macro- and micronutrients.

Adult members of the AHS-2 cohort geographically spread throughout the USA and Canada.

Calibration study participants included 461 blacks of American and Caribbean origin and 550 whites.

Calibration study subjects represented the total cohort very well with respect to demographic variables. Approximately 33 % were males. Whites were older, had higher education and lower BMI compared with blacks. Across fifty-one variables, average deattenuated energy-adjusted validity correlations were 0·60 in whites and 0·52 in blacks. Individual components of protein had validity ranging from 0·40 to 0·68 in blacks and from 0·63 to 0·85 in whites; for total fat and fatty acids, validity ranged from 0·43 to 0·75 in blacks and from 0·46 to 0·77 in whites. Of the eighteen micronutrients assessed, sixteen in blacks and sixteen in whites had deattenuated energy-adjusted correlations ≥0·4, averaging 0·60 and 0·53 in whites and blacks, respectively.

With few exceptions validity coefficients were moderate to high for macronutrients, fatty acids, vitamins, minerals and fibre. We expect to successfully use these data for measurement error correction in analyses of diet and disease risk.