Sedentary behaviour interventions in young people: a meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: There is increasing concern about the time young people spend in sedentary behaviour ('sitting time'), especially with the development of attractive home-based electronic entertainment. This may have deleterious health effects.

Purpose: To ascertain, through a meta-analytic review, whether interventions targeted at reducing sedentary behaviours in young people are successful.

Method: ERIC, MedLine, PsychInfo, SportDiscus and the Cochrane Library databases were searched up to 2010. Titles and abstracts of identified papers were examined against inclusion criteria. Included papers were coded by three researchers.

Results: 17 papers, including 17 independent samples (N=4976), met the inclusion criteria and were analysed. There was a small but significant effect in favour of sedentary behaviour reduction for intervention groups (Hedges' g = - 0.192; SE = 0.056; 95% CI = -0.303 to -0.082; p = 0.001). Moderator analyses produced no significant between-moderator results for any of the intervention or study characteristics, although trends were evident.

Conclusion: Behaviour change interventions targeting reductions in sedentary behaviour have been shown to be successful, although effects are small. More needs to be known about how best to optimise intervention effects.