Assessing sitting and standing in college students using height-adjustable desks

Abstract

Objective: To examine if Arduino microcontrollers and Fitbits can serve as proxy measures for the direct observation of sitting and standing time in college students using height-adjustable standing desks. The preferred type of standing desks and reasons to use the desks were also assessed. Design: Classroom-based intervention, plus cross-sectional survey. Setting: Mid-sized Midwestern US university classroom. Method: Students were randomised to either a tabletop or stand-alone height-adjustable standing desk. They followed an alternating sit/stand protocol, then completed an 11-item questionnaire on preferences and reasons for or against using the desks. Data were collected in October 2018. Results: Twenty-two students completed the protocol (16 women; 15 in third or fourth year of study). Arduinos provided accurate representation of sitting. Correlations between Fitbits and Arduinos were moderate (.23–.49). Sixteen of the 22 participants preferred tabletop (vs stand-alone) height-adjustable desks. Main reasons to use standing desks were to improve health and preferring to stand. Main reasons for not using them were being tired and preferring to sit. Conclusion: Arduinos served as an adequate stand-in for direct observation, which has implications for studying the sedentary behaviours of large numbers of students simultaneously. More research is needed on using Fitbits for assessing sitting and standing time. Student preferences and reasons for/against using standing desks provide foundational evidence for standing desk interventions in this population.

A Qualitative Study of the Feasibility and Acceptability of Implementing ‘Sit-To-Stand’ Desks in Vocational Education and Training

“…Although research has been done on the effects and applicability of standing desks in primary school [15,29,30], secondary school [15,16,31], and academic tertiary education settings [19,32,33], insight into their use in the vocational education and training (VET) setting is lacking. According to Rijpstra et al [34], 80% of VET students have an unhealthy sedentary lifestyle and, thus, interrupting this sedentary lifestyle could also have significant beneficial effects for them.…”

College Classroom Instructors Can Effectively Promote Standing among Students Provided with Standing Desks

“…Students were allowed to adjust their desk to find a comfortable height prior to the commencement of the study. The desks used in this study were found to be acceptable by college students in a previous study [ 11 ].…”

“…The questionnaire instrument used in this study consisted of 13 questions and was a modified version of a questionnaire developed in a previous study [ 11 ] (see File S1 ). Five questions assessed demographics (age, gender, grade, race/ethnicity, and self-reported height, which was used to calculate BMI along with weight measured by digital scale in the classroom); four questions assessed if students stood at the desks (yes or no), reasons for standing or not (list of items with select all that apply), and barriers to standing (list of item with select all that apply); the final four questions assessed the optimal amount of time to stand in class (how many minutes per 60 min class), whether the prompts to stand were too many, just right, not enough, or did not see any (control group did not receive this question), and weekly self-reported sitting time in hours and minutes per day [ 20 ], which could be a confounding variable for standing time.…”

“…Other preliminary research indicated college students in a classroom fitted with standing desks stood up to 7.2 min per hour [ 10 ]. There is a need to examine the best strategies to promote standing within the college classroom setting [ 11 ].…”