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Sedentary Behaviour Interventions for Office Workers and Students

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Public Health Statistics and Risk Assessment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2021) | Viewed by 23999

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Interests: office worker obesity; classroom ergonomics and childhood obesity; medical device development and testing; sedentary behavior intervention

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sedentary office workers struggle with opportunities to move throughout much of their work day. The inactivity has been implicated in the increase of obesity and with it the increase in many of its comorbidities, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. The impact on our overall workforce has grown to more than two-thirds of our workers, and now includes nearly a quarter of office workers who have primary offices in either their homes, vehicles, or shared spaces. In order to create activity permissive work environments, employers and employees are searching for evidence-based programs, tools, software, training, furnishings, layouts, and spaces that can encourage movement throughout the day. This Special Issue will focus on interventions such as these that have been tested to determine their efficacy at reducing sedentary behaviour and/or improving health outcomes for adults or students. Authors are encouraged to submit original research on this emerging field of study.

Dr. Mark Benden
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Sedentary behaviour
  • Physical activity
  • Activity permissive
  • Ergonomics
  • Sit
  • Stand
  • Movement
  • Seated
  • Standing
  • Walking
  • Office worker
  • Built environment

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 348 KiB  
Article
Effect of a Long Exercise Program in the Reduction of Musculoskeletal Discomfort in Office Workers
by Alberto Villanueva, Juan Rabal-Pelay, César Berzosa, Héctor Gutiérrez, Cristina Cimarras-Otal, Belén Lacarcel-Tejero and A. Vanessa Bataller-Cervero
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(23), 9042; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17239042 - 4 Dec 2020
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3544
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of a six week exercise program to reduce the muscle tone of the trapezius and musculoskeletal discomfort (MED) of office workers. Twenty-six workers performed an exercise program based on: (1) stretching of cervical [...] Read more.
The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of a six week exercise program to reduce the muscle tone of the trapezius and musculoskeletal discomfort (MED) of office workers. Twenty-six workers performed an exercise program based on: (1) stretching of cervical and/or dorsal region; (2) joint mobility of shoulders and rachis; (3) strengthening deep stabilizer and core muscles; and (4) scapula stabilizing exercises. A Myoton device was used to evaluate trapezius tone and the Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire was used to assess changes in MED at three points of evaluation: at the beginning (Pre_1) and at the end of the workday (Post_1), and after the training program (Pre_2). The Wilcoxon test and Cohen’s d were performed to examine differences and effect sizes between evaluations. Main results show that trapezius tone remained constant during the workday, but decreased in the dominant upper trapezius (p = 0.003, ES = −0.60) and increased in the non-dominant middle trapezius (p = 0.016, ES = 0.45) after the exercise program, which eliminated significant muscle asymmetries. MED significantly decreased in the neck (p = 0.027, ES = −0.60) and upper back (p = 0.046, ES = −0.67). In conclusion, MED appears to improve in office workers after a six week training program, which may be explained by a decrease in trapezius tone and increase in the left middle trapezius tone. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sedentary Behaviour Interventions for Office Workers and Students)
8 pages, 284 KiB  
Article
Association of Sedentary Behavior and Depression among College Students Majoring in Design
by Zhen Xu, Qiuxia Xu, Yifan Wang, Jielu Zhang, Jiapei Liu and Fei Xu
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(10), 3545; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17103545 - 19 May 2020
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 3836
Abstract
Background: This study aimed to specify the prevalence of sedentary behavior and depression and investigate the relationship between sedentary behavior and depression among college students majoring in design. Methods: A total of 480 undergraduate and postgraduate students majoring in design were randomly enrolled [...] Read more.
Background: This study aimed to specify the prevalence of sedentary behavior and depression and investigate the relationship between sedentary behavior and depression among college students majoring in design. Methods: A total of 480 undergraduate and postgraduate students majoring in design were randomly enrolled from a university in Nanjing for a questionnaire that included sociodemographic data, physical health, sedentary behavior and depression. Results: Participants reported that they spent 14.93 (SD = 1.76) hours on sedentary behavior per day and most of the time occurred outside the classroom. There were 161 (39.8%) students who reported depression, with a statistical difference across grades. After adjusting for sociodemographic attributes, physical health and physical activity, binary logistic regression analysis showed that the total sedentary time and time spent on school assignments on weekends were significantly associated with depression. Conclusions: To reduce the risk of depression, students majoring in design should be encouraged to change sedentary behaviors to physical activities in their study and life, such as using non-seating postures to do school assignments, making time for more physical activities and reducing assignments on weekends. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sedentary Behaviour Interventions for Office Workers and Students)
15 pages, 1659 KiB  
Article
Physical Activity Habits and Determinants, Sedentary Behaviour and Lifestyle in University Students
by Aida Carballo-Fazanes, Javier Rico-Díaz, Roberto Barcala-Furelos, Ezequiel Rey, José E. Rodríguez-Fernández, Cristina Varela-Casal and Cristian Abelairas-Gómez
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(9), 3272; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17093272 - 8 May 2020
Cited by 56 | Viewed by 16147
Abstract
University students, as a result of their lifestyles, represent a section of the population that is most likely to adopt sedentary behaviours. The aim of the present study was to analyse the determining factors dictating the performance of physical activity as well as [...] Read more.
University students, as a result of their lifestyles, represent a section of the population that is most likely to adopt sedentary behaviours. The aim of the present study was to analyse the determining factors dictating the performance of physical activity as well as sedentary behaviour among university students. A total of 608 students (64.6% women) from the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) were selected by stratified random sampling to take part in the study, which involved completing a questionnaire on lifestyle and physical activity. Of the participating students, 69.6% indicated that they performed physical activity; the main reasons given were to maintain fitness and for health, while a lack of time and laziness were the principal reasons given for abandoning or not taking up physical exercise. Significant associations were established between not doing physical activity and the time exposed to screens, time studying, feeling low and smoking; on the other hand, associations could be seen between doing physical activity and the participation of relatives (parents, mothers, partners, older siblings and friends) in physical activity, as well as a positive sense of satisfaction relating to physical education taught in schools. In conclusion, most of the university students did some physical activity, which was associated with less sedentary behaviour, while the influence of school physical education and of the habits of relatives played an important role. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sedentary Behaviour Interventions for Office Workers and Students)
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