Impact of an 8-month trial using height-adjustable desks on children's classroom sitting patterns and markers of cardio-metabolic and musculoskeletal health
Files
(Published version)
Date
2016
Authors
Ayala, A.M.C.
Salmon, J.
Timperio, A.
Sudholz, B.
Ridgers, N.D.
Sethi, P.
Dunstan, D.W.
Editors
Advisors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Type:
Journal article
Citation
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2016; 13(12, article no. 1227):1-15
Statement of Responsibility
Conference Name
Abstract
During school hours, children can sit for prolonged and unbroken periods of time. This study investigated the impact of an 8-month classroom-based intervention focusing on reducing and breaking-up sitting time on children's cardio-metabolic risk factors (i.e., body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure) and perceptions of musculoskeletal discomfort. Two Year-6 classes (24 students per class) in one primary school were assigned to either an intervention or control classroom. The intervention classroom was equipped with height-adjustable desks and the teacher was instructed in the delivery of pedagogical strategies to reduce and break-up sitting in class. The control classroom followed standard practice using traditional furniture. At baseline, and after 8-months, time spent sitting, standing, stepping, and sitting-bouts (occasions of continuous sitting) as well as the frequency of sit-to-stand transitions were obtained from activPAL inclinometers and the time spent in light-intensity physical activity was obtained from ActiGraph accelerometers. Demographics and musculoskeletal characteristics were obtained from a self-report survey. Hierarchical linear mixed models found that during class-time, children's overall time spent sitting in long bouts (>10 min) were lower and the number of sit-to-stand transitions were higher in the intervention group compared to the control group, while no changes were observed for musculoskeletal pain/discomfort. No significant intervention effects were found for the anthropometrics measures and blood pressure. Height-adjustable desks and pedagogical strategies to reduce/break-up sitting can positively modify classroom sitting patterns in children. Longer interventions, larger and varied sample size may be needed to show health impacts; however, these desks did not increase musculoskeletal pain/discomfort.
School/Discipline
Dissertation Note
Provenance
Description
Access Status
Rights
Copyright 2016 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
Access Condition Notes: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/