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. 2014 Sep 10;11(9):9361-75.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph110909361.

The evaluation of the impact of a stand-biased desk on energy expenditure and physical activity for elementary school students

Mark E Benden  1 , Hongwei Zhao  2 , Christina E Jeffrey  3 , Monica L Wendel  4 , Jamilia J Blake  5
Affiliations

The evaluation of the impact of a stand-biased desk on energy expenditure and physical activity for elementary school students

Mark E Benden et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Due to the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity, the association between classroom furniture and energy expenditure as well as physical activity was examined using a standing-desk intervention in three central-Texas elementary schools. Of the 480 students in the 24 classrooms randomly assigned to either a seated or stand-biased desk equipped classroom, 374 agreed to participate in a week-long data collection during the fall and spring semesters. Each participant's data was collected using Sensewear® armbands and was comprised of measures of energy expenditure (EE) and step count. A hierarchical linear mixed effects model showed that children in seated desk classrooms had significantly lower (EE) and fewer steps during the standardized lecture time than children in stand-biased classrooms after adjusting for grade, race, and gender. The use of a standing desk showed a significant higher mean energy expenditure by 0.16 kcal/min (p < 0.0001) in the fall semester, and a higher EE by 0.08 kcal/min (p = 0.0092) in the spring semester.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Stand-Biased & seated desk (photos courtesy of PositiveMotion LLC).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Plots of mean EEs and their 95% confidence intervals for treatment (stand-biased) and control groups in the fall and spring semesters.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Plots of mean step counts and their 95% confidence intervals for treatment (stand-biased) and control groups in the fall and spring semesters.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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