Abstract
Prolonged sedentary behaviour (SB) has shown to be detrimental to health. Nevertheless, population levels of SB are high and interventions to decrease SB are needed. This study aimed to explore the effect of a personalized intervention aimed at reducing SB and increasing breaks in SB among college employees. A pre-experimental study design was used. Participants (n = 36) were recruited at a college in Massachusetts, USA. SB was measured over 7 consecutive days using an activPAL3 accelerometer. Following baseline measures, all participants received a personalized SB consultation which focused on limiting bouts of SB >30 min, participants also received weekly follow-up e-mails. Post-intervention measures were taken after 16 weeks. Primary outcome variables were sedentary minutes/day and SB bouts >30 min. Differences between baseline and follow-up were analyzed using paired t-tests. The intervention did not change daily sedentary time (−0.48%; p > 0.05). The number of sedentary bouts >30 min decreased significantly by 0.52 bouts/day (p = 0.010). In this study, a personalized SB intervention was successful in reducing number of bouts >30 min of SB. However, daily sedentary time did not reduce significantly. These results indicate that personalized, consultation-based interventions may be effective if focused on a specific component of SB.
Highlights
Sedentary behavior (SB), defined as “any waking behavior characterized by an energy expenditure≤ 1.5 metabolic equivalents (METS) while in a sitting or reclining posture” [1] is an important risk factor for poor health
All participants provided at least 5 days of valid activPAL data for both baseline and follow-up measures
Participants spent an average of 9.4 h per day sedentary with no significant difference between females and males during the waking day (p = 0.563)
Summary
Sedentary behavior (SB), defined as “any waking behavior characterized by an energy expenditure≤ 1.5 metabolic equivalents (METS) while in a sitting or reclining posture” [1] is an important risk factor for poor health. Sedentary behavior (SB), defined as “any waking behavior characterized by an energy expenditure. Recent systematic reviews have linked high levels of SB to many negative health outcomes such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, and all-cause mortality, independent of physical activity [2,3,4,5,6]. Sedentary behaviour is on the rise, in developed countries. Adults in the United States [7], Norway [8] and Sweden [9] spend approximately two thirds of the waking day sedentary. Causes of SB in both developed and developing countries include reduced frequency of physical activity, increased sedentary leisure pursuits at home and increased amounts of seated technical work or desk-based office work [10]. Data from a range of industrialised countries indicate that increased sedentariness at work is an international
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