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Controlled Clinical Trial
. 2019 May 29;16(11):1892.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph16111892.

Classroom Standing Desks and Time-Series Variation in Sedentary Behavior and Physical Activity among Primary School Children

Tetsuhiro Kidokoro  1 , Yasuo Shimizu  2 , Kanako Edamoto  3 , Michael Annear  4
Affiliations
Controlled Clinical Trial

Classroom Standing Desks and Time-Series Variation in Sedentary Behavior and Physical Activity among Primary School Children

Tetsuhiro Kidokoro et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of height-adjustable standing desks on time-series variation in sedentary behavior (SB) among primary school children. Thirty-eight children aged 11-12 years (22 boys and 16 girls) from two classes at a primary school in Nagano, Japan, participated in this study. One class was allocated as the intervention group and provided with individual standing desks for 6 months, and the other was allocated as the control group. Time spent in SB, light-intensity physical activity (LPA), and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) was measured using accelerometers (ActiGraph) at baseline and follow-up. Time spent in SB was significantly lower by 18.3 min/day on average in the intervention class at follow-up (interaction effects: F(1, 36) = 4.95, p = 0.035, η2 = 0.082). This was accompanied by a significant increase in time spent in MVPA (+19.9 min/day on average). Our time-series analysis showed significant decreases in SB during school time, while no change in SB was found during non-school time. This result indicates that the use of standing desks promotes an overall reduction in SB with no compensatory increase during non-school time.

Keywords: ActiGraph; health; height-adjustable desks; hourly variations; intervention; school-age children; sitting time.

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Conflict of interest statement

The desks used in the present study were supplied via an in-kind donation from Okamura Co., Japan. The company played no role in the study design, analysis or in the preparation of this manuscript. There are no further competing interests to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Changes in physical activity and sedentary behavior between intervention and control classes. Data are presented as percentages and standard error. Two-way ANOVA (group × time) was performed to examine the changes in activity levels between baseline and follow-up in the two classes. If the interaction was significant, post-hoc analysis was performed to examine the simple main effects in each factor.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Changes in physical activity and sedentary behavior between intervention and control classes. Data are presented as percentages and standard error. Two-way ANOVA (group × time) was performed to examine the changes in activity levels between baseline and follow-up in the two classes. If the interaction was significant, post-hoc analysis was performed to examine the simple main effects in each factor.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Hourly variations in activity levels in the intervention class at baseline and follow-up. Data are presented as percentages. Two-way ANOVA (PRE-POST × time) was performed to examine the hourly variations in activity levels in the intervention class at the baseline and follow-up. If the interaction was significant, post-hoc analysis was performed to examine the simple main effects in each hour.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Hourly variations in activity levels in the control class at baseline and follow-up. Data are presented as percentages. Two-way ANOVA (PRE-POST × time) was performed to examine the hourly variations in activity levels in the control class at the baseline and follow-up. If the interaction was significant, post-hoc analysis was performed to examine the simple main effects in each hour.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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