Association between sedentary behavior, obesity and hypertension in public school teachers

• Published in: Industrial Health Vol. 58; no. 4; pp. 345 - 353
• Main Authors: DELFINO, Leandro Dragueta, TEBAR, William Rodrigues, Fernanda Caroline Staquecini Gil TEBAR, SOUZA, Jefferson Marinho DE, ROMANZINI, Marcelo, FERNANDES, Rômulo Araújo, CHRISTOFARO, Diego Giulliano Destro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health 01.01.2020; National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Japan; National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Japan (JNIOSH)
• Subjects: Abdomen; Abdominal Obesity; Adult; Behavior; Blood pressure; Body weight; Brazil - epidemiology; Cardiovascular diseases; Cross-Sectional Studies; Demographic aspects; Female; Health aspects; Health risks; Heart Rate; Humans; Hypertension; Hypertension - epidemiology; Independent variables; Leisure Activities; Male; Men; Middle Aged; Obesity; Obesity - epidemiology; Original; Overweight; Public schools; Regression analysis; Regression models; Risk analysis; Risk Factors; School Teachers - statistics & numerical data; Screen time; Sedentary Behavior; Sedentary breaks; Social aspects; Socioeconomic Factors; Socioeconomics; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teachers; Television; Working conditions; Brazil; Screen time; Blood pressure; Teachers; Sedentary breaks; Abdominal Obesity
• ISSN: 0019-8366; 1880-8026
• DOI: 10.2486/indhealth.2019-0170

The present study aimed to verify the prevalence and association of sedentary behavior and its breaks with obesity and cardiovascular risk factors in teaching professionals. The sample was composed by 245 public school teachers (186 women and 59 men), with a mean age of 45 yr. Sedentary behavior was evaluated by self-reported screen time in different devices (television, computer, cellphone/tablet), and sedentary breaks at work and leisure were assessed by a Likert scale (never, rarely, sometimes, often, always). Cardiovascular risk factors (overweight/obesity, abdominal obesity, blood pressure, and heart rate) were objectively collected by trained individuals in the work environment of the teachers. Logistic Binary Regression models were adjusted for confounding factors (age, sex, and socioeconomic status). The prevalence of sedentary behavior was 55.3% in the sample. High sedentary behavior was associated to abdominal obesity (OR=2.21 [CI=1.23–3.97]). No association was observed between sedentary breaks at work and independent variables, however teachers with high sedentary breaks at leisure time were less likely to present high blood pressure (OR=0.58 [CI=0.32–0.98]). In conclusion, high sedentary behavior was associated with abdominal obesity, and high sedentary breaks in leisure time were associated to lower chances of high blood pressure among public school teachers.