Mid-Aged Adults' Sitting Time in Three Contexts

Abstract

Background: To develop evidence based approaches for reducing sedentary behavior, there is a need to identify the specific settings where prolonged sitting occurs, associated factors, and variations.Purpose: To examine the sociodemographic and health factors associated with mid-aged adults' sitting time in three contexts, and variations between week and weekend days.Methods: A mail survey was sent to 17,000 adults (aged 40-65 years) in 2007; 11,037 responses were received (68.5%); and 7,719 were analyzed in 2010. Respondents indicated time spent sitting on a usual week day and weekend day for watching television, general leisure, and home computer use. Multivariate linear mixed models with area-level random intercepts were used to examine (i) associations between sociodemographic and health variables and sitting time, and (ii) interaction effects between week/weekend day for each of sex, age, education, and employment status, on sitting time.Results: For each context, longer sitting times were reported by those single and living alone, and those whose health restricted activity. For watching television, longer sitting times were reported by men; smokers; and those with high school or lower education, not in paid employment, in poor health, and with BMI >25 kg/m 2 . For general leisure, longer sitting times were reported by women, smokers, and those not in full time employment. For home computer use, longer sitting times were reported by men; and those aged 40-44 years, with university qualifications; in the mid income range; and with BMI >30 kg/m 2 . Sitting times tended to be longer on weekend than week days, although the extent of this differed among sociodemographic groups. Conclusions: Sociodemographic and health factors associated with sitting time differ bycontext and between week and weekend days.3 BackgroundEmerging evidence suggests that prolonged sitting time may be associated with an increased risk of adverse health outcomes such obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular risk biomarkers, and mortality. [1][2][3][4] To develop evidence based approaches for reducing sedentary behavior, there is a need to identify the specific settings where prolonged sitting occurs, associated factors, and variations. 5There is data to suggest that those adults with high levels of sedentary behavior are more likely to be men; 6-9 and older; 10, 11 to have low levels of income 7, 10, 12 and education; 1, 2,6,[10][11][12] and to have other health risks such as overweight or obesity, MeasuresRespondents indicated the time spent sitting on each of a usual week day and weekend day (a) while watching television (including DVDs, videos, and video games) (b) while using a computer at home, and (c) in leisure time, NOT including watching television and using a computer (e.g., hobbies, reading, dining out). This measure has been shown to have acceptable levels of reliability and validity with mid-aged adults. 19 Data were converted to minutes/day for each context. To minimize potential error associated with over-reporting, responses ...

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