Introducing sit-stand desks increases classroom standing time among university students.

Matthew Jerome; Kathleen F Janz; Barbara Baquero; Lucas J Carr

doi:10.1016/j.pmedr.2017.10.019

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Introducing sit-stand desks increases classroom standing time among university students.

Journal article

Open access

Introducing sit-stand desks increases classroom standing time among university students.

Matthew Jerome, Kathleen F Janz, Barbara Baquero and Lucas J Carr

Preventive Medicine Reports, Vol.8, pp.232-237

11/03/2017

DOI: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2017.10.019

PMCID: PMC5683670

PMID: 29159019

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2017.10.019View

Published (Version of record)Preventive Medicine Reports 8 (2017) 232–237.

Abstract

<p>Excessive sedentary behavior has been associated with many negative health outcomes. While an understudied health topic, there is evidence that university students are excessively sedentary. Sit-stand desks have been shown to reduce sedentary time among pre-university students (ages 5-18 years) and sedentary workers but have not been tested in university classrooms. This study tested the effects of introducing sit-stand desks into a university classroom on student's classroom sitting and standing behaviors. Using a cross-over design, students received access to both traditional seated desks and sit-stand desks for six weeks. Data were collected between September and December, 2016. We recruited 304 healthy undergraduate university students enrolled in one of two small (25 seats) classrooms at a large Midwestern university during the fall of 2016. Average minutes of standing/hour/student, average percent class time spent standing, and the number of sit-stand transitions/student/hour were directly observed with video camera surveillance. Participants stood significantly more (p < 0.001) when provided access to sit-stand desks (7.2 min/h/student; 9.3% of class time spent standing) compared to when they had access to seated desks (0.7 min/h/student; 1.6% of class time spent standing) but no differences were observed for the number of sit-stand transitions (p = 0.47). Students reported high favorability for the sit-stand desks and improvements in several student engagement and affective outcomes while using the sit-stand desks. These findings support introducing sit-stand desks in university classrooms as an approach to reduce sedentary behaviors of university students.</p>

Medicine and Health Sciences

OAfund

Sedentary

University students

Sit-stand desk

community health

behavioral health

undergraduate students

sedentary behavior

health and human physiology

Details

Title: Subtitle: Introducing sit-stand desks increases classroom standing time among university students.
Creators: Matthew Jerome - University of Iowa
Kathleen F Janz - University of Iowa
Barbara Baquero - University of Iowa
Lucas J Carr - University of Iowa
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Preventive Medicine Reports, Vol.8, pp.232-237
DOI: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2017.10.019
PMID: 29159019
PMCID: PMC5683670
ISSN: 2211-3355
Number of pages: 6
Grant note: Funder: Fraternal Order of Eagles through the Robert W. Hansen Diabetes Fund
Language: English
Date published: 11/03/2017
Academic Unit: Health and Human Physiology; Epidemiology; Community and Behavioral Health
Record Identifier: 9983557568302771

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