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Sedentary behavior in Dutch workers: differences between occupations and business sectors.

Marielle P Jans1, Karin I Proper, Vincent H Hildebrandt

  • 1TNO Quality of Life, Leiden, The Netherlands. Marielle.Jans@tno.nl

American Journal of Preventive Medicine
|November 21, 2007
PubMed
Summary

Workers spend significant time sitting daily, with prolonged sitting at work not offset by less leisure-time activity. Reducing sedentary behavior across all life domains is key for preventing health issues.

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Area of Science:

  • Occupational Health
  • Public Health
  • Behavioral Science

Background:

  • Sedentary behavior is a known risk factor for obesity and other health concerns.
  • Limited data exists on workplace sitting time and its occupational/sectoral variations.
  • No studies have investigated if work-related sitting is compensated by reduced leisure-time sitting.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To quantify sitting time at work and in leisure among the Dutch working population.
  • To examine associations between occupation/sector and workplace sitting time.
  • To determine if prolonged work sitting is offset by reduced leisure sitting.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized cross-sectional survey data from 2000-2005 (N=7720).
  • Collected self-reported daily sitting minutes (work and leisure).

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  • Performed descriptive analyses and ANOVAs to compare sitting times across occupational groups and sectors in 2006.

    • Main Results:

    • The average Dutch worker sits 7 hours daily, with one-third of this time at work.
    • Significant differences in sedentary behavior, primarily work sitting, were observed across occupations and sectors.
    • Workers with high levels of sitting at work did not reduce their leisure-time sitting.

    Conclusions:

    • A substantial portion of waking and working hours is spent sedentary.
    • High work-related sitting is not compensated by decreased sedentary leisure time.
    • Reducing sedentary behavior at work, during commutes, and in leisure is recommended for health.