A Sustainable Lifestyle Intervention Among Office Workers: Cluster Randomized Pilot and Feasibility Study
Oskar Halling Ullberg1, Annika Tillander2, Katarina Bälter1,3
1Department of Health Science, Innovation and Design, Mälardalen University, Universitetsplan 1, Västerås, 722 20, Sweden, 46 79-0660901.
JMIR Formative Research
|May 7, 2026
Summary
Integrating sustainable development with healthy lifestyle education reduced office workers' carbon footprint and improved health behaviors. This approach offers a dual benefit for personal well-being and environmental protection.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Environmental Science
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Societal challenges include rising lifestyle diseases and climate change.
- Pro-environmental and healthy behaviors share common behavior change principles.
- Integrating health education with sustainable development can motivate behavior change.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore dietary intake, carbon footprint, and physical activity changes in office workers.
- To compare a sustainable lifestyle intervention with a healthy lifestyle intervention.
- To assess the feasibility of intervention functions like attendance and goal setting.
Main Methods:
- A 2-armed cluster randomized study in Sweden (sustainable lifestyle arm n=19; healthy lifestyle arm n=14).
- An 8-week intervention with workplace-based workshops framed by the behavioral change wheel and socioecological model.
- Assessment via web-based questionnaires (Meal-Q, Active-Q) and printed questionnaires for feasibility.
Main Results:
- A reduction in diet-related carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) was observed in both arms (0.8 kg/day sustainable; 0.4 kg/day healthy).
- A statistically significant interaction showed a greater reduction in qualitative carbon footprint (CO2e/1000 kcal) in the sustainable arm (P=.05).
- The sustainable lifestyle arm showed a decrease in sedentary time (0.4 hours/day) and an increase in fruit/vegetable intake, unlike the healthy lifestyle arm.
Conclusions:
- Embedding healthy lifestyle education within sustainable development is effective for reducing carbon footprint and promoting healthy behaviors in office workers.
- Workplace-based sustainable lifestyle promotion can address global challenges like metabolic diseases and climate change.
- This integrated approach shows potential for counteracting negative health and environmental trends.
Related Concept Videos
01:15Bioavailability Study Design: Healthy Subjects Versus Patients
Bioavailability studies are essential for evaluating a drug's therapeutic efficacy and understanding its absorption patterns under various physiological conditions. Conducting such studies on target patient populations provides more relevant data by simulating real-world disease states. However, practical challenges often necessitate the use of young, healthy adult volunteers as study subjects.Patients may exhibit altered drug absorption patterns due to the effects of the disease itself,...
01:20Study Designs in Epidemiology
Epidemiological study designs are fundamental tools for investigating the distribution, determinants, and control of health conditions in populations. They help researchers understand the relationships between exposures and outcomes, and they broadly fall into two categories: "observational" and "experimental" studies.
Observational studies are those where the researcher does not intervene but rather observes natural variations. They include cross-sectional, cohort, and case-control studies.
Observational studies are those where the researcher does not intervene but rather observes natural variations. They include cross-sectional, cohort, and case-control studies.