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. 2018 Jan 25;13(1):e0190750.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0190750. eCollection 2018.

Patterns of sedentary behavior in overweight and moderately obese users of the Catalan primary-health care system

Elena Martínez-Ramos  1   2 , Angela-Maria Beltran  2 , Carme Martín-Borràs  2   3   4   5 , Lourdes Lasaosa-Medina  6 , Jordi Real  7   8 , José-Manuel Trujillo  9 , Mercè Solà-Gonfaus  10 , Elisa Puigdomenech  2   11 , Eva Castillo-Ramos  12 , Anna Puig-Ribera  13 , Maria Giné-Garriga  3   4 , Noemi Serra-Paya  5 , Beatriz Rodriguez-Roca  14 , Ana Gascón-Catalán  14 , Carlos Martín-Cantera  2   6   11 ; SEDESTACTIV group
Affiliations

Patterns of sedentary behavior in overweight and moderately obese users of the Catalan primary-health care system

Elena Martínez-Ramos et al. PLoS One. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Background and objectives: Prolonged sitting time (ST) has negative consequences on health. Changing this behavior is paramount in overweight/obese individuals because they are more sedentary than those with normal weight. The aim of the study was to establish the pattern of sedentary behavior and its relationship to health, socio-demographics, occupation, and education level in Catalan overweight/obese individuals.

Methods: A descriptive study was performed at 25 healthcare centers in Catalonia (Spain) with 464 overweight/moderately obese patients, aged25 to 65 years. Exclusion criteria were chronic diseases which contraindicated physical activity and language barriers. Face-to-face interviews were conducted to collect data on age, gender, educational level, social class, and marital status. Main outcome was 'sitting time' (collected by the Marshall questionnaire); chronic diseases and anthropometric measurements were registered.

Results: 464 patients, 58.4% women, mean age 51.9 years (SD 10.1), 76.1% married, 60% manual workers, and 48.7% had finished secondary education. Daily sitting time was 6.2 hours on working days (374 minutes/day, SD: 190), and about 6 hours on non-working ones (357 minutes/day, SD: 170). 50% of participants were sedentary ≥6 hours. The most frequent sedentary activities were: working/academic activities around 2 hours (128 minutes, SD: 183), followed by watching television, computer use, and commuting. Men sat longer than women (64 minutes more on working days and 54 minutes on non-working days), and individuals with office jobs (91 minutes),those with higher levels of education (42 minutes), and younger subjects (25 to 35 years) spent more time sitting.

Conclusions: In our study performed in overweight/moderately obese patients the mean sitting time was around 6 hours which was mainly spent doing work/academic activities and watching television. Men, office workers, individuals with higher education, and younger subjects had longer sitting time. Our results may help design interventions targeted at these sedentary patients to decrease sitting time.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Linear regression coefficients of sitting time in work day by gender.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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