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Sedentary behaviour interventions in young people: a meta-analysis
Stuart Jh Biddle1, Sophie O'Connell, Rock E Braithwaite
1School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK. s.j.h.biddle@lboro.ac.uk
Background:
There is increasing concern about the time young people spend in sedentary behaviour ('sitting time'), especially with the development of attractive home-based electronic entertainment. This may have deleterious health effects.
Purpose:
To ascertain, through a meta-analytic review, whether interventions targeted at reducing sedentary behaviours in young people are successful.
Method:
ERIC, MedLine, PsychInfo, SportDiscus and the Cochrane Library databases were searched up to 2010. Titles and abstracts of identified papers were examined against inclusion criteria. Included papers were coded by three researchers.
Results:
17 papers, including 17 independent samples (N=4976), met the inclusion criteria and were analysed. There was a small but significant effect in favour of sedentary behaviour reduction for intervention groups (Hedges' g = - 0.192; SE = 0.056; 95% CI = -0.303 to -0.082; p = 0.001). Moderator analyses produced no significant between-moderator results for any of the intervention or study characteristics, although trends were evident.
Conclusion:
Behaviour change interventions targeting reductions in sedentary behaviour have been shown to be successful, although effects are small. More needs to be known about how best to optimise intervention effects.
