Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2019 Jun 11;19(1):653.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-019-6960-5.

Exploring when and how adolescents sit: cross-sectional analysis of activPAL-measured patterns of daily sitting time, bouts and breaks

Lauren Arundell  1 , Jo Salmon  2 , Harriet Koorts  2 , Ana Maria Contardo Ayala  2 , Anna Timperio  2
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Exploring when and how adolescents sit: cross-sectional analysis of activPAL-measured patterns of daily sitting time, bouts and breaks

Lauren Arundell et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: This study describes patterns of adolescents' objectively-measured sitting volume, sitting bouts, and breaks in sitting during different days and periods of the day, and explored differences by sex and weekdays versus weekend days.

Methods: ActivPAL™ data were collected in August 2014-December 2015 from adolescents attending secondary government schools in Melbourne Australia. Eight periods (early morning, mid-morning, morning break, late morning, lunch, early afternoon, late-afternoon and evening) were extracted for each day. School time, class time and out-of-school time were also extracted for weekdays. The percentage of time sitting, percentage of each hour in prolonged sitting (sitting bout ≥10 min), and number of sitting breaks/hour were calculated for each period. Differences by sex, and week and weekend days were determined using t-tests.

Results: Participants (n = 297, 15.4 ± 1.6 years) spent 68% of their day sitting; ~ 30% of each hour in prolonged sitting and 3.1 sitting breaks/hour. Sitting time was greater during class time (75%) and school (70%) compared to out-of-school time (65%). Sitting patterns differed between week and weekend days for all periods except the evening period. Girls had higher proportion of sitting during class than boys (76% vs 72% respectively) and school hours (72% vs 67%), more prolonged sitting during school hours (27% vs 23%), and more sitting breaks per hour during out-of-school time (2.6 vs 2.4), but fewer during class (2.5 vs 3.3) and school hours (2.7 vs 3.3). Sitting patterns did not differ by sex on weekend days.

Conclusions: Adolescents spent two-thirds of their waking hours sitting, with distinct patterns on weekdays and weekend days. Even though boys and girls were exposed to the same school day routine, girls spent more time sitting and had fewer sitting breaks. Class times, school breaks and the evening period were identified as key intervention periods. Further research is needed to understand the behavioural differences, and guide future intervention design.

Keywords: ActivPAL; Adolescents; Bouts, prolonged sitting; School; Sedentary behaviour; Sedentary breaks; Sex differences; Sitting.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

LA is a member of the editorial board (Associate Editor) of this journal. The other authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The percentage of each period spent sitting among boys and girls on weekdays and weekend days. Note: B = boys; G = girls. This study was conducted in Melbourne, Australia, between August 2014–December 2015
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The percentage of each hour within a period spent in prolonged sitting among boys and girls on weekdays and weekend days. Note: B = boys; G = girls. This study was conducted in Melbourne, Australia, between August 2014–December 2015
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The number of sitting breaks per hour within a period for boys and girls on weekdays and weekend days. Note: B = boys; G = girls. This study was conducted in Melbourne, Australia, between August 2014–December 2015
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Carson V, Hunter S, Kuzik N, Gray CE, Poitras VJ, Chaput J-P, et al. Systematic review of sedentary behaviour and health indicators in school-aged children and youth: an update. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2016;41(6):S240–SS65. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2015-0630. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tremblay MS, Aubert S, Barnes JD, Saunders TJ, Carson V, Latimer-Cheung AE, et al. Sedentary behavior research network (SBRN) – terminology consensus project process and outcome. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2017;14(1):75. doi: 10.1186/s12966-017-0525-8. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tremblay M, LeBlanc A, Janssen I, Kho M, Hicks A, Murumets K. Canadian sedentary behaviour guidelines for children and youth. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2011;36(1):59–64. doi: 10.1139/H11-012. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Australian Government Department of Health . Australia’s physical activity & sedentary behaviour guidelines for children (5–12 years) 2014.
    1. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Australian Health Survey: Physical Activity, 2011–12. cat no. 4364.0.55.004 Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia; 2013.

Publication types