Brief Standing Desk Intervention to Reduce Sedentary Behavior at a Physical Activity Conference in 2016

• Published in: American journal of public health (1971) Vol. 108; no. 9; pp. 1197 - 1199
• Main Authors: Wilson, Jason J, Adlakha, Deepti, Cunningham, Conor, Best, Paul, Cardwell, Chris R, Stephenson, Aoife, Murphy, Marie H, Tully, Mark A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Public Health Association 01.09.2018
• Subjects: Adult; Age; Age groups; AJPH Open-Themed Research; Behavior; Clinical trials; Conferences; Congresses as Topic; Data collection; Dentistry; Environment; Environmental impact; Exercise; Exercise/Physical Activity; Female; Gender; Humans; Interior Design and Furnishings; Intervention; Male; Medical research; Meetings; Physical activity; Physical fitness; Public health; R&D; Research & development; Sedentary Behavior; Systematic review; Tables; Volunteers; United Kingdom > UK; Northern Ireland; Europe
• ISSN: 0090-0036; 1541-0048
• DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2018.304515

To examine the impact of environmental restructuring on attendees at a physical activity conference when provided with standing tables and given point-of-decision prompts (PODPs; e.g., health messages). This randomized controlled trial took place at the Health-Enhancing Physical Activity Europe 2016 conference in Belfast, United Kingdom, September 2016. We randomly allocated 14 oral sessions to either the intervention group (standing tables + PODPs; n = 7) or the control group (PODPs only; n = 7). Conference volunteers discreetly recorded the number of attendees standing and sitting and estimated the number of women and attendees aged 40 years or older. There was a significant difference (P = .04) in the proportion of attendees standing during the intervention (mean = 16.8%; SD = 9.5%) than during control sessions (mean = 6.0%; SD = 5.8%). There was no differential response between gender and age groups in the proportion standing during intervention sessions (P > .05). Providing standing tables may be a feasible and effective strategy to reduce sitting at physical activity conferences.