Best way to avoid prolonged sitting
A new study shows that the best methods to reduce prolonged sitting time have nothing to do with exercise. More effective techniques involve tracking the total amount of time you spend hunched in a chair.
The research, led by the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London, is published in the journal Health Psychology Review.
The research team, led by Dr Benjamin Gardner, from the Department of Psychology at the IoPPN, King’s College London, searched the current existing literature on trials of interventions that sought to reduce sitting time. The team then categorised these studies according to their effectiveness, and examined the strategies that had been used in each trial to try to reduce sitting.
Out of the 38 interventions assessed, a majority of 23 (60%) were reduced sitting time whilst 15 (39 %) did not,
Some of the promising interventions included the provision of sit-stand desks at work, though other techniques such as encouraging people to keep records of their own sitting time, setting individual goals for limiting sitting time, and using prompts and cues to remind people to stop them sitting, were also found to help reduce sitting time, even when used in isolation.
In addition, effective interventions tended to educate people about the health benefits of reducing their sitting time.
In view of their study, the researchers now recommend that sitting time should be viewed as a separate behaviour change target to physical activity. They hope their findings can be used by public health workers and policy makers responsible for designing new interventions to reduce sitting time and improve the overall health of those who may sit for prolonged periods.
Professor Stuart Biddle, at Victoria University in Australia and co-author of the study, added: ‘The ill effects of high levels of sitting may prove to be especially damaging given that so many people sit for long periods.
‘The importance of this study is not in showing that interventions can work, but in pointing out how they might work. This is crucial if behaviour is to be achieved more efficiently and effectively.’
