Abstract
Background: Aim of this intervention study was to evaluate whether availability of standing desks in classrooms may reduce sitting time and enhance standing and stepping time during lessons and breaks. Further, we evaluated if differences in standing desk use differed by physical fitness (PF) levels of children.Methods: To assess sitting, standing and stepping during a typical school week in 3rd grade primary school children (N = 52), activPAL monitors were used at baseline: T0, 1st follow-up: T1 and 2nd follow-up: T2. At baseline, PF was measured using the standing long jump and the 6-min jog-walk to assign children as having low PF (LPF) or high PF (HPF). Standing desks were assigned randomly to intervention and control groups at T1 (group 1) and T2 (group 2) with a cross-over design. Changes of sitting, standing and stepping were analyzed to investigate intervention effects at follow-up, using linear mixed models.Results: At baseline, children spent about 60 and 30% of time sitting during lessons and breaks, respectively. After installing standing desks (T1), significantly lower proportions of sitting were observed in the intervention group 1 [−13.1%, 95%-CI: (−20.5; −5.72)] and the control group 2 [−9.78%, 95%-CI: (−17.3; −2.28)]. Compared to the baseline measurement (T0), lower proportions of sitting were particularly expressed during school breaks in group 1 and 2 after intervention in T1 [group 1: −10.3%, 95%-CI: (−16.4; −4.25)] or in T2 [group 2: −8.59%, 95%-CI: (−15.2; −1.94)]. In general, children with higher physical fitness were less sedentary and more active, but intervention effects did not differ by fitness levels.Conclusion: Standing desks provide an opportunity to reduce sedentary time during lessons and breaks at school in primary school children, but do not directly increase PA of high intensity such as stepping. Future studies should consider potential bandwagon effects caused by structural interventions.
Highlights
Aim of this intervention study was to evaluate whether availability of standing desks in classrooms may reduce sitting time and enhance standing and stepping time during lessons and breaks
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that children and adolescents between 5 and 17 years should engage in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) for at least 60 min every day [1], but only one fifth of German school children [2] meet this recommendation
The present study aimed to investigate whether installing height-adjustable standing desks affects proportions of sitting, standing and stepping on typical school days and in particular domains
Summary
Aim of this intervention study was to evaluate whether availability of standing desks in classrooms may reduce sitting time and enhance standing and stepping time during lessons and breaks. The WHO recommends that children and adolescents should limit the amount of time spent being sedentary, in particular the amount of recreational screen time. Associations between sedentary behavior and child health are still discussed controversially [3,4,5], but there is evidence that sedentary behavior tracks from childhood to adulthood underpinning importance of health promotion activities targeting the reduction of sitting time already early in life [6]. Possible health benefits resulting from the reduction of sedentary time in childhood may relate to a healthier weight status, blood pressure, metabolism, fitness, self-esteem and social behavior and may even improve academic performance [7]. A large number of studies observed a gradient between time spent sedentary and worsening of health, but evidence is inconclusive with regard to a clear dose-response relationship. Adverse health effects are observed from up to 2 h. [8] This is alarming insofar as primary school children are sitting ∼6.5 h at school [9,10,11,12], German children and adolescents spent up to 9 h sedentary during a typical school day [13] and sitting duration increases as children get older [9,10,11,12, 14]
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