Mid-Aged Adults' Sitting Time in Three Contexts

doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2011.11.012

American Journal of Preventive Medicine

Volume 42, Issue 4, April 2012, Pages 363-373

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2011.11.012 Get rights and content

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 weekdays 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 7719 were analyzed in 2010. Respondents indicated time spent sitting on a usual weekday and weekend day for watching TV, general leisure, and home computer use. Multivariate linear mixed models with area-level random intercepts were used to examine (1) associations between sociodemographic and health variables and sitting time, and (2) interaction effects of weekday/weekend day with each of gender, 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 TV, 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. For general leisure, longer sitting times were reported by women, smokers, and those not employed full-time. 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. Sitting times tended to be longer on weekend days than weekdays, although the extent of this differed among sociodemographic groups.

Conclusions

Sociodemographic and health factors associated with sitting time differ by context and between weekdays and weekend days.

Section snippets

Background

Emerging evidence suggests that prolonged sitting time may be associated with an increased risk of adverse health outcomes such as 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.⁵

Data suggest that those adults with high levels of sedentary behavior are more likely to be men6, 7, 8, 9

Methods

Data were sourced from the 2007 HABITAT (How Areas in Brisbane Influence healTh and AcTivity) study, which was awarded ethical clearance by the QUT Human Research Ethics Committee (Ref. 3967H).

Participants

From 17,000 people originally sampled, 869 were ineligible (e.g., deceased, living overseas), and 11,037 returned surveys with data (68.5%). Fewer than 5% of data were missing on any of the study variables with the exception of income, which had 15% missing. Chi-square tests of independence were used to assess whether the proportion of missing data in the respondent sample differed across categories for each of the interaction variables: gender (χ²₁=43.17, p<0.001); age (χ²₄=36.28, p<0.001);

Discussion

For the three contexts, longer sitting times were consistently reported by those single and living alone. These people may find it easier to spend time in sedentary behaviors than to engage in more-active pursuits. This raises an interesting parallel between sedentary and solitary activities. The concept of sedentary–solitary leisure has elsewhere been considered in the context of late adulthood²⁰ and disability²¹ and could also be considered for otherwise healthy mid-aged adults. The authors'

Conclusion

The results of the present study suggest that there is a need to promote active leisure options for mid-aged adults who are single and living alone and, where possible, those whose physical activity is restricted because of their health. Interventions to reduce sedentary behavior could also focus on sitting time (1) for watching TV, in particular among men, or those not in paid employment, in poor health, or with BMI ≥25; (2) on weekend days, in particular among those in full-time employment,

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Cited by (28)

Temporal trends in sitting time by domain in a cohort of mid-age Australian men and women
2018, Maturitas
Citation Excerpt :
If we assume that individuals spend 7–8 h per day sleeping, this finding suggests that mid-age Australian adults spend almost two thirds of their waking day sitting. In accordance with previous studies [9], sitting time watching TV and at work were the largest contributors to overall sitting time (accounting for more than half). Other research has noted that TV viewing is a common leisure activity choice, especially for those with low SEP [10,11].
There are few prospective data on temporal trends in overall sitting time for different domains of sitting. This study examined time trends over 6 years in total and domain-specific sitting time in mid-age Australian men and women. Self-report data from 5246 participants in four survey waves (2007, 2009, 2011, 2013) of the HABITAT study in Brisbane, Australia, were analysed. Overall trends in 'high' total sitting time (>8 h/day sitting) and five domains were examined: a) >5 h/day for TV; b) >2 h/day for travel; c) >2 h/day for home computer use; d) >2 h/day for leisure; and e) >6 h/day for work. Sitting to watch TV and sitting at work accounted for more than half of total sitting time. The proportions who reported high sitting for computer use at home increased from 25% in 2007 to 37% in 2013 in men and from 19% to 29% over the same period in women. High TV sitting time was reported by 11.8% of men and 10.2% of women. These estimates increased to 16.5% and 13.2% respectively over the six years. In conclusion, although overall total sitting time remained fairly stable, there were significant increases in sitting time in some domains (home computer use and TV viewing) and in some sub-groups (such as women, and the employed). These increases were countered by declines in work-related sitting due to retirement.
Patterns and correlates of time use and energy expenditure in older Australian workers: A descriptive study
2016, Maturitas
Citation Excerpt :
Furthermore, while men generally do more physical activity than women [8], with increasing age (over 60 years) men become more sedentary while women maintain the same level of light physical activity [9]. The type of sedentary behaviour is also different between the sexes, with men sitting longer to watch television or use a computer while women sit longer to do hobbies or read [10]. Moreover, women are reported to sleep for a longer duration than men [11].
How people use their time has health implications, but use of time may be influenced by factors such as age, sex, education and health.
This study aimed to provide detailed information on the daily activity patterns of older working people.
139 older Australian adults (aged 50–79 years) undertook comprehensive interviews on their use of time. This paper presents a cross-sectional analysis of the baseline findings from a longitudinal study.
Use of time was measured using the Multimedia Activity Recall for Children and Adults (MARCA), administered via computer-assisted phone interview. Activity patterns were described, and compared on the basis of sex, education and health status.
The main activities undertaken were sleep (mean 466 min/day), work (mean 233 min/day) and chores (mean 160 min/day), with little time spent on physical activity (mean 13 min/day). Women spent more time doing chores (p < 0.001) while men spent more time on vigorous activities (p < 0.001). Participants with “fair” health spent less time on inside chores (p = 0.05) and grooming (p = 0.02) than healthier participants.
Healthy lifestyle interventions for older workers should aim to increase physical activity levels by targeting specific activities, depending on sex and health status.
Accelerometer-measured sedentary time among Hispanic adults: Results from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL)
2015, Preventive Medicine Reports
Excessive sedentary behavior is associated with negative health outcomes independent of physical activity. Objective estimates of time spent in sedentary behaviors are lacking among adults from diverse Hispanic/Latino backgrounds. The objective of this study was to describe accelerometer-assessed sedentary time in a large, representative sample of Hispanic/Latino adults living in the United States, and compare sedentary estimates by Hispanic/Latino background, sociodemographic characteristics and weight categories. This study utilized baseline data from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) that included adults aged 18–74 years from four metropolitan areas (N = 16,415). Measured with the Actical accelerometer over 6 days, 76.9% (n = 12,631) of participants had > 10 h/day and > 3 days of data. Participants spent 11.9 h/day (SD 3.0), or 74% of their monitored time in sedentary behaviors. Adjusting for differences in wear time, adults of Mexican background were the least (11.6 h/day), whereas adults of Dominican background were the most (12.3 h/day), sedentary. Women were more sedentary than men, and older adults were more sedentary than younger adults. Household income was positively associated, whereas employment was negatively associated, with sedentary time. There were no differences in sedentary time by weight categories, marital status, or proxies of acculturation. To reduce sedentariness among these populations, future research should examine how the accumulation of various sedentary behaviors differs by background and region, and which sedentary behaviors are amenable to intervention.
Understanding occupational sitting: Prevalence, correlates and moderating effects in Australian employees
2014, Preventive Medicine
To (1) compare occupational sitting between different socio-demographic, health-related, work-related and psychosocial categories, (2) identity socio-demographic, health-related, work-related and psychosocial correlates of occupational sitting, and (3) examine the moderating effect of work-related factors in the relation between correlates and occupational sitting.
Randomly-selected Australian adults completed a web-based survey assessing socio-demographic (country of birth, gender, age, education, income), health-related (general health, weight, physical activity), work-related (employment status, occupational task, occupational classification) and sedentary-specific psychosocial (social norm, social support, self-efficacy, control, advantages, disadvantage, intention) factors, and occupational sitting-time. t-tests, ANOVAs and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted (in 2013) on a sample of employees (n = 993).
Respondents sat on average for 3.75 (SD = 2.45) h/day during work. Investigated correlates explained 41% of the variance in occupational sitting. More occupational sitting was associated with being male, being younger, higher education and income, part-time and full-time employment, sedentary job tasks, white-collar/professional occupations, higher BMI, and perceiving more advantages of sitting less at work. Employment status and occupational classification moderated the association between control to sit less and occupational sitting. A lack of control to sit less was associated with higher occupational sitting in part-time and full-time workers, but not in casual workers; and in white-collar and professional workers, but not in blue-collar workers.
Most important contributors to occupational sitting were work-related and socio-demographic correlates. More research is needed to confirm present results.
Associations between socio-economic position and sedentary behaviour in a large population sample of Australian middle and older-aged adults: The Social, Economic, and Environmental Factor (SEEF) Study
2014, Preventive Medicine
Citation Excerpt :
Area-level deprivation is associated with screen time in Scotland (Stamatakis et al., 2009) but not in England (Stamatakis et al., under review). Other studies that used recreational screen time to index sitting time have found that SEP is linked consistently with higher TV viewing and other recreational screen time in Australian (Burton et al., 2012; Teychenne et al., 2012), Belgian (Van Dyck et al., 2011), and US adults (Bowman, 2006). A study of 7719 Australian adults that looked at the associations between income and education with TV, home computer and general leisure-time sitting time (Burton et al., 2012) found that only education was inversely associated with TV time and positively associated with computer use.
Socioeconomic position (SEP) is associated with health-related behaviours but little is known about the socioeconomic gradient of sedentary behaviour. This study aims to assess the associations between SEP and multiple indicators of sedentary behaviour among Australian mid-to-older age adults.
Multivariate analysis of 60,404 (> 47 years, 26,366 in paid employment) participants in the Social, Economic, and Environmental Factor Study, examining the associations between SEP (educational attainment, household income, and an area-level index of socioeconomic advantage) and self-reported daily time for total sitting, TV viewing, computer use, and car driving. Data was collected in 2010 in New South Wales, Australia.
For participants in paid employment, we found positive associations with all SEP indicators for total sitting and computer use time, and inverse associations for TV viewing. Driving time was inversely associated with education level only. We observed similar but less pronounced patterns of associations among participants not in paid employment.
Higher SEP is linked to higher total sitting and computer time, particularly among those in paid employment, and lower TV viewing time.
ActiGraph GT3X determined variations in "free-living" standing, lying and sitting duration among sedentary adults
2013, Journal of Sport and Health Science
Overweight and obesity has become a serious public health problem in many parts of the world. Studies suggest that making small changes in daily activity levels such as “breaking-up” sedentary time (i.e., standing) may help mitigate the health risks of sedentary behavior. The aim of the present study was to examine time spent in standing (determined by count threshold), lying, and sitting postures (determined by inclinometer function) via the ActiGraph GT3X among sedentary adults with differing weight status based on body mass index (BMI) categories.
Participants included 22 sedentary adults (14 men, 8 women; mean age 26.5 ± 4.1 years). All subjects completed the self-report International Physical Activity Questionnaire to determine time spent sitting over the previous 7 days. Participants were included if they spent seven or more hours sitting per day. Postures were determined with the ActiGraph GT3X inclinometer function. Participants were instructed to wear the accelerometer for 7 consecutive days (24 h a day). BMI was categorized as: 18.5 to <25 kg/m² as normal, 25 to <30 kg/m² as overweight, and ≥30 kg/m² as obese.
Participants in the normal weight (n = 10) and overweight (n = 6) groups spent significantly more time standing (after adjustment for moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity and wear-time) (6.7 h and 7.3 h respectively) and less time sitting (7.1 h and 6.9 h respectively) than those in obese (n = 6) categories (5.5 h and 8.0 h respectively) after adjustment for wear-time (p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in standing and sitting time between normal weight and overweight groups (p = 0.051 and p = 0.670 respectively). Differences were not significant among groups for lying time (p = 0.55).
This study described postural allocations standing, lying, and sitting among normal weight, overweight, and obese sedentary adults. The results provide additional evidence for the use of increasing standing time in obesity prevention strategies.

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Research articleMid-Aged Adults' Sitting Time in Three Contexts

Background

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Section snippets

Background

Methods

Participants

Discussion

Conclusion

Am J Prev Med

Am J Prev Med

Am J Prev Med

Am J Prev Med

Am J Prev Med

Ann Epidemiol

Television viewing time and mortality: the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study (AusDiab)

Circulation

Television watching and other sedentary behaviors in relation to risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus in women

JAMA

Socio-demographic correlates of prolonged television viewing time in Australian men and women: the AusDiab Study

J Phys Act Health

Sitting time and socioeconomic differences in overweight and obesity

Int J Obes

Physical activity and sedentary behavior: a population-based study of barriers, enjoyment, and preference

Health Psychol

Television viewing and other screen-based entertainment in relation to multiple socioeconomic status indicators and area deprivation: the Scottish Health Survey 2003

J Epidemiol Community Health

Research article
Mid-Aged Adults' Sitting Time in Three Contexts