Recent trends in population levels and correlates of occupational and leisure sitting time in full-time employed Australian adults

Sedentary behavior does not predict low BMD nor fracture-population-based Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study

Sedentary behavior (SB) or sitting is associated with multiple unfavorable health outcomes. Bone tissue responds to imposed gravitational and muscular strain with there being some evidence suggesting a causal link between SB and poor bone health. However, there are no population-based data on the longitudinal relationship between SB, bone change, and incidence of fragility fractures. This study aimed to examine the associations of sitting/SB (defined as daily sitting time), areal BMD (by DXA), and incident low trauma (fragility) osteoporotic fractures (excluding hands, feet, face, and head). We measured baseline (1995-7) and 10-yr self-reported SB, femoral neck (FN), total hip (TH), and lumbar spine (L1-L4) BMD in 5708 women and 2564 men aged 25 to 80+ yr from the population-based, nationwide, 9-center Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study. Incident 10-yr fragility fracture data were obtained from 4624 participants; >80% of fractures were objectively confirmed by medical records or radiology reports. Vertebral fractures were confirmed by qualitative morphological methods. All analyses were stratified by sex. Multivariable regression models assessed SB-BMD relationships; Cox proportional models were fit for fracture risk. Models were adjusted for age, height, BMI, physical activity, and sex-specific covariates. Women in third/fourth quartiles had lower adjusted FN BMD versus women with the least SB (first quartile); women in the SB third quartile had lower adjusted TH BMD. Men in the SB third quartile had lower adjusted FN BMD than those in SB first quartile. Neither baseline nor stable 10-yr SB was related to BMD change nor to incident fragility fractures. Increased sitting (SB) in this large, population-based cohort was associated with lower baseline FN BMD. Stable SB was not associated with 10-yr BMD loss nor increased fragility fracture. In conclusion, habitual adult SB was not associated with subsequent loss of BMD nor increased risk of fracture.

Sedentary time at school and work in Canada

OBJECTIVES

High levels of sedentary time (ST) are associated with poor physical and mental health. Given that Canadians spend a large portion of their days at school and work, they may be important targets for reducing ST. Our objectives are to estimate the daily amount of school and work ST among Canadians, examine differences by subgroups, and determine associations with health.

METHODS

Using the 2020 Canadian Community Health Survey Healthy Living Rapid Response module (N = 5242), the amount of time spent sitting while at school and work was estimated among youth (12-17 years) and adults (18-34 and 35-64 years). Differences by sociodemographics and 24-Hour Movement Guideline adherence were assessed with independent t-tests. Associations between school and work ST and health indicators were assessed using adjusted logistic regression.

RESULTS

Canadian youth aged 12-17 years and adults aged 18-34 years reported an average of 4.5 and 5.2 h/day of school ST, respectively. Adults 18-34 years and 35-64 years reported an average of 3.9 and 4.0 h/day of work ST, respectively. School and work ST differed within several subgroups. Among adults 18-34 years, higher school ST was associated with a reduced odds of 'excellent/very good' mental health, whereas higher work ST was associated with a greater likelihood of reporting 'excellent/very good' general health.

CONCLUSION

Canadian youth and working-age adults report an average of 4-5 h/day sedentary at school or work. This is the first study estimating school and work ST in a representative sample of Canadians and will aid in increasing awareness of setting-specific behaviours to better inform targeted interventions including addressing inequalities in ST.

A Mixed Methods Evaluation of a Digital Intervention to Improve Sedentary Behaviour Across Multiple Workplace Settings

BACKGROUND

Prolonged sedentary behaviour (SB) is associated with risk of chronic diseases. Digital interventions in SB require mixed method evaluations to understand potential for impact in real-world settings. In this study, the RE-AIM QuEST evaluation framework will be used to understand the potential of a digital health promotion application which targets reducing and breaking up SB across multiple workplace settings.

METHODS

Four companies and 80 employees were recruited to use a digital application. Questionnaires were used to measure SB, and additional health and work-related outcomes at baseline, one month, three month and six month follow-up. Qualitative data was collected through focus groups with employees and interviews with stakeholders. Questionnaire data was analysed using Wilcoxon Sign Rank tests and qualitative data was thematically analysed.

RESULTS

The digital application significantly increased standing time at one month for the total group and transitions per hour in one of the companies. Facilitators and barriers were identified across RE-AIM.

CONCLUSIONS

Addressing the barriers which have been identified, while maintaining the positive attributes will be critical to producing an effective digital application which also has the potential for impact in the real world.

Temporal Trends and Recent Correlates in Sedentary Behaviors among Chinese Adults from 2002 to 2010-2012

Evidence suggests that more time spent in sedentary behaviors (SB) increases health risk independent of physical activities. Trends in SB among adults have not been fully described in China, and the sociodemographic correlates of SB have not been systematically evaluated either. This study examined the temporal trends of SB among 184,257 adults (2002: n = 52,697, 2010-2012: n = 131,560) using data from the China National Nutrition and Health Survey in 2002 and 2010-2012, and analyzed the recent correlates of SB in Chinese adults. Overall, an increase (+0.29 h/d) was seen in total SB across the survey years, and there was a slight increase (+0.14 h/d) in leisure time SB and a decrease (-0.39 h/d) in occupational SB. From 2002 to 2012, the proportion of Chinese adults whose total SB time over 4 h/d increased from 35.4% to 43.0%, and the proportion of leisure SB time over 3 h/d increased from 42.0% to 48.0%, and the proportion of occupational SB time over 4 h/d decreased from 63.4% to 53.0%. Male, urban areas, employed, unmarried, and with higher educational and family economic level were all positively associated with high sedentary time (HST) in 2010-2012. These trends and correlates are important for health policy in China and other countries that are facing similar challenges.

Examining total and domain-specific sedentary behaviour using the socio-ecological model - a cross-sectional study of Irish adults

BACKGROUND

Sedentary behaviour (SB) has been linked with detrimental effects on morbidity and mortality. This study aims to identify the individual, social and environmental correlates of total sedentary behaviour and the contexts in which sitting time accumulates in an Irish adult cohort.

METHODS

Cross-sectional analysis of data from 7328 adults of the nationally representative Healthy Ireland Survey. Ordinal regression analyses were used to examine participants' socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, physical and mental health status, perceived neighbourhood environmental factors, and their association with total daily sitting times and sitting times across the domains of occupation, leisure screen-time and transportation/leisure.

RESULTS

Overall median of sitting time per day was 450 min (7.5 h). Male gender, and living in an urban location were associated with increased total-, occupational, and screen-time sitting (p < 0.001). Younger age was associated with increased total and occupational sitting times (p < 0.001), while being older was associated with increased screen-time and transportation/leisure sitting (p < 0.001). Insufficient physical activity levels were associated with increased sitting across all domains (p < 0.001). Higher socio-economic classification and education levels were associated with increased total, occupational, and transportation/leisure SB (p < 0.001), while lower socio-economic classification and education levels were associated with increased screen-time sitting (p < 0.001). Alcohol consumption was associated with screen-time and transportation/leisure sitting (p < 0.01), while smoking was associated with increased screen-time sitting (p < 0.001). Being married was associated with less screen-time (p < 0.001) and transportation/leisure sitting (p = 0.02), while those with a caring role had less total (p = 0.04) and screen-time sitting (p = 0.01). A significant negative association between neighbourhood attributes and total (p = 0.04), and transportation/leisure sitting times (p < 0.001) was found.

CONCLUSION

The results of this study provide a starting position for development of targeted interventions aimed at the most sedentary, such as males with sedentary occupations in higher socio-economic groups and education levels, those with insufficient levels of physical activity and who live in an urban location.

Prevalence and correlates of domain-specific sedentary time of adults in the Netherlands: findings from the 2006 Dutch time use survey

Background

Relatively little is known about how total sedentary time is accumulated in different domains and if correlates of sedentary time differ across domains. Time use surveys present a unique opportunity to study sedentary time in more detail. This study aimed to use the 2006 Dutch time use survey to 1) describe the (sedentary) time use of Dutch adults, and 2) explore socio-demographic and health-related correlates of total (non-occupational) and domain-specific sedentary time.

Methods

The Dutch time use survey randomly selected participants from a population-representative research sample of Dutch households. Participants reported daily activities on seven consecutive days using a time use diary and socio-demographic and health-related characteristics during telephone interviews. All reported activities were coded for activity domain (i.e. education; household; leisure; occupation; sleep; transport; voluntary work) and activity intensity (i.e. sedentary; light intensity physical activity; moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity). As occupational activities were not specified in sufficient detail, the intensity of these activities was unknown. We described the time spent in different domains and intensities, and assessed the socio-demographic and health-related correlates of high levels of total (non-occupational), household, leisure, and transport sedentary time using logistic regression analyses.

Results

The final dataset consisted of 1614 adult (18+) participants. On average, participants spent 8.0 h (61.1%) of their daily waking non-occupational time on sedentary activities. More than 87% of leisure time was spent sedentary. Men, participants aged 18–34 and 65+ years, full-time employed participants and obese participants had higher levels of total non-occupational sedentary time. The correlates of household, leisure and transport sedentary time differed by domain.

Conclusions

This study reports high levels of total non-occupational sitting time of Dutch adults. The large proportion of sedentary leisure activities might indicate the potential of strategies aiming to reduce leisure sedentary time. The difference in correlates across sedentary behaviour domains demonstrates the importance of targeting these domains differently in interventions and policies.

A Sitting Posture Monitoring Instrument to Assess Different Levels of Cognitive Engagement

An office chair for analyzing the seated posture variation during the performance of a stress-level test is presented in this work. To meet this aim, we placed a set of textile pressure sensors both on the backrest and on the seat of the chair. The position of the sensors was selected for maximizing the detection of variations of user’s posture. The effectiveness of the designed system was evaluated through an experiment where increasing stress levels were obtained by administering a Stroop test. The collected results had been analyzed by considering three different time intervals based on the difficulty level of the test (low, medium, and high). A transition analysis conducted on postures assumed during the test showed that participants reached a different posture at the end of the test, when the cognitive engagement increased, with respect to the beginning. This evidence highlighted the presence of movement presumably due to the increased cognitive engagement. Overall, the performed analysis showed the proposed monitoring system could be used to identify body posture variations related to different levels of engagement of a seated user while performing cognitive tasks.