Recent Articles
Measuring Muscle Visco-Elasticity in Horizontal Bed Rest Model for Better Understanding of Sedentary Life Style
R. Viir, Institute of Exercise Biology and Physiotherapy, University of Tartu, TartuEstonia
RehabCenter, RheumatismFoundationHospital, Heinola, Finland
E-mail: ragnar.viir@ut.ee
M. Pääsuke, Institute of Exercise Biology and Physiotherapy, University of Tartu, TartuEstonia
K. Rajaleid, Center for Health Equity Studies, StockholmUniversity/ Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
*Note: The source for this paper is the 2008 ISU 12th Annual Symposium – ‘Space Solutions to Earth’s Global Challenges’
Abstract
The aim of this study was to use the upper trapezius muscle as a representative of the musculoskeletal support system to determine the effect on muscle tension due changing from upright position to a lying position and whether this change could be useful in the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders. Twenty two female subjects participated in this study. Myometric measurements of the upper trapezius muscle on both sides of the body were recorded in a standing, sitting and supine position. Changing from upright positions to a supine position reduced the upper trapezius muscle support function by up to one fifth as characterized with diminishing of muscle tone and stiffness. The change in tone and stiffness of the trapezius muscle is of significance to the well being of sedentary workers. Introducing regular brief breaks of simple unchallenging movements while being in a supine position should enhance recovery from prolonged sitting.
100 Ways to Stand Up For Your Health (Prevention)
Prevention magazine recently featured a list of 100 ways to break up your sedentary time on. From their website:
At Home
1. Hide your remote. If you must watch TV, at least stand up to change the channel.
2. When cooking or baking, ditch the hand mixer and use a wooden spoon instead.
3. Take each family member’s laundry upstairs separately.
4. When tidying up, put things away in multiple small trips rather than one big haul.
5. Chop fresh vegetables instead of buying frozen ones.
6. Invest in quality pots and pans; the heavier they are, the more energy it’ll take to use them.
7. Paint, hang curtains, or finish any other home-improvement task on your to-do list.
8. Stand up and march during your favorite TV shows. (Try our Couch-Potato Workout.)
9. Rather than yell toward family members in other rooms, walk over to talk.
10. Stand while styling your hair and putting on makeup.
11. Walk around your home, yard, or neighborhood while on the phone.
12. Hand-wash dishes instead of using the dishwasher.
13. Wash your car instead of taking it through the car wash.
14. Put most-used items on top or bottom shelves so you have to reach for them.
15. Leave your cell phone in one location, so when you need it, you must go to it.
16. Start a compost pile in your yard.
17. Help your kids clean their rooms.
18. Organize a closet.
19. Rake the leaves as a family.
20. Give the delivery guy a break; when you order food in, pick it up yourself.
21. Take a shower instead of a bath.
22. Walk to the mailbox instead of checking the mail from your car.
23. Plant or weed a garden or care for indoor plants.
24. Ask for the paper to be left at the end of your driveway instead of by your front door.
25. Give your dog a bath instead of paying someone else to do it.
26. Instead of sitting and reading, listen to books on tape as you walk, clean, or garden.
27. Preset the timer on your TV to turn off after an hour to remind you to do something more active.
28. Slide a small trampoline under your couch and pull it out for Real Housewives marathons.
29. Put up more Christmas lights.
30. The next time it snows, up your karma and shovel your neighbor’s sidewalk too.
31. Turn on tunes and dance while cooking.
Very Important SBRN Member Survey
Below is a survey asking SBRN members about their views on the future of the organization, and whether or not the group should formally become a part of the International Society for Physical Activity and Health. Please take 2-5 minutes to complete the survey, as the results will determine the structure and function of the organization in the coming years. Thanks for your time!
Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world’s leading questionnaire tool.
SBRN Definition of Sedentary Behaviour Now Available in Spanish and Portuguese
Earlier this year SBRN published an updated definition of the terms “sedentary” and “sedentary behaviour”, which was published in the journals Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism and Movement & Sport Sciences – Science & Motricité. The definition was originally published in both English (here) and French (here). The definition has now been translated into Spanish and Portuguese by Ana Lúcia André with help from Verónica Varela Mato.
You can find links to the translated definitions below.
The definition can be cited as:
Sedentary Behaviour Research Network. 2012. Standardized use of the terms “sedentary” and “sedentary behaviours”. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 37: 540–542.
If you are interested in helping to translate this definition of sedentary behaviour into another language, please contact us through our contact page.
Sedentary Behaviour and Physical Activity Post-Doctoral Positions Available
School of Physiotherapy and Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia
Curtin University is the largest university in Western Australia with a strong international focus. The School of Physiotherapy has a reputation for world class applied research and multidisciplinary collaborations. A growing number of research projects have been developed around sedentary behaviour/physical activity, technology and health – for example interventions for children and adolescents, interventions for office workers and large longitudinal epidemiological studies in children/young adults and ‘baby boomers’. These projects are mainly funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia and involve collaborations with researchers across Australia as well as Europe and North America. The research group is expanding and this creates an exciting opportunity for early career postdocs to join the team and develop as emerging leaders.
We are looking for enthusiastic, competent candidates able to work well with colleagues. Clear, critical thinking, strong conceptual and analytical background, and excellent writing skills are important, along with experience in sedentary behaviour and physical activity measurement. An earned doctorate in a related discipline is required along with strong letters of support from three colleagues/supervisors.
The role will include working with the team on existing projects to capture high quality data, data processing and analyses, and preparing and leading manuscripts and conference presentations. The role will also provide opportunities to develop grant writing and student supervision skills. Postdocs will be mentored by the team and encouraged to develop their own related research interests.
The appointment opportunities are flexible with 1-3 year contracts available. Competitive remuneration commensurate with qualifications will be provided (AUD70,000-80,000pa) along with leave and superannuation entitlements.
Further information is available from: Professor Leon Straker (L.Straker@curtin.edu.au) and Dr Rebecca Abbott (rebecca@hms.uq.edu.au; 14thDecember – 21stJanuary 2013 while Leon is on leave)
Click here for further background information on the post-doc positions.
More Discussion Around SBRN’s Proposed Definition of Sedentary Behaviours Published in Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism
Earlier this year, SBRN published an updated definition of the terms “sedentary” and “sedentary behaviour” in response to confusion around the use of the terms in the published literature.
Recently, a letter to the editor by Ragnar Viir and Alar Veraksitš was published in Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism where concern with SBRN’s proposed definition of sedentary behaviour was expressed. The letter can be read in full here.
Dr. Mark Tremblay, a founding member of SBRN, has responded to this letter and his response can be read in full here.
SBRN Inaugural Meeting at ICPAPH 2012
The slide deck from the SBRN Inaugural Meeting, which was held at the 4th International Congress on Physical Activity and Public Health in Sydney on October 31st, can be viewed below.
Click here to download notes from the meeting.
SBRN Presentations At ICPAPH 2012
The 3rd International Congress on Physical Activity and Public Health is coming up later this month in Sydney, Australia, and SBRN members will be giving several presentations on each day of the conference. SBRN will also be holding it’s own meeting immediately prior to the opening ceremony on October 31.
Below is a list of presentations by SBRN members in chronological order. If you would like to add your presentation to the list, or if you spot an error, please send me a message at tsaunders (at) cheo.on.ca. You can find the full ICPAPH program and book of abstracts here.
See you in Sydney!
Wednesday, October 31:
| Title: | SBRN Inaugural Meeting (Pre Conference) |
| Time: | 12:15 – 13:15 |
| Room: |
Bayside Room 102 |
| Session Date: | 31/10/2012 |
Sophie O’Connell
| Title: | Seasonal Variation in Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour and Sleep in UK Adults |
| Session: | Patterns of physical activity and sedentary behaviour in adults |
| Room: | Room 201 |
| Session Date: | 31/10/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1530 – 1700 |
| Presentation Order: | 3.00 |
Jeff Valance
| Title: | Associations between sitting time and health-related quality of life and psychosocial health among older men |
| Session: | Physical activity and psychosocial health in adults |
| Room: | Room 202 |
| Session Date: | 31/10/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1530 – 1700 |
| Presentation Order: | 1.00 |
Erica Hinckson
| Title: | Principals’ and teachers’ perspectives about strategies to interrupt sitting time in primary school classrooms |
| Session: | Sedentary behaviour in children and young people |
| Room: | Room 103 |
| Session Date: | 31/10/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1530 – 1700 |
| Presentation Order: | 6.00 |
Dale Esliger
| Title: | Understanding the age-related increase in sedentary time in children and youth: An uphill battle |
| Session: | Sedentary behaviour in children and young people |
| Room: | Room 103 |
| Session Date: | 31/10/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1530 – 1700 |
| Presentation Order: | 4.00 |
Andrew Atkin
| Title: | Determinants of change in children’s objectively measured sedentary time |
| Session: | Sedentary behaviour in children and young people |
| Room: | Room 103 |
| Session Date: | 31/10/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1530 – 1700 |
| Presentation Order: | 3.00 |
Natalie Pearson:
| Title: | Associations between physical activity and sedentary behaviour in adolescents: A systematic review |
| Session: | Sedentary behaviour in children and young people |
| Room: | Room 103 |
| Session Date: | 31/10/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1530 – 1700 |
Thursday, November 1:
Mette Aadahl
| Title: | Temporal changes in sleep duration, domain-specific sedentary behaviour and physical activity. A survey among 25 to 79-year-old Danish adults |
| Session: | Trends in physical activity and sedentary behaviour |
| Room: | Room 201 |
| Session Date: | 01/11/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1100 – 1230 |
Ingrid Hendriksen
| Title: | Trends in physical inactivity and sedentary behavior in the Dutch population |
| Session: | Trends in physical activity and sedentary behaviour |
| Room: | Room 201 |
| Session Date: | 01/11/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1100 – 1230 |
| Presentation Order: | 6.00 |
Stuart Biddle:
| Title: | Agreement between accelerometer-determined sedentary time and self-report measures: Project STAND |
| Session: | The crisis of measurement in physical activity and sedentary behaviour |
| Room: | Room 204A |
| Session Date: | 01/11/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1100 – 1230 |
| Presentation Order: | 6.00 |
Dylan Cliff
| Title: | Levels and bouts of sedentary behaviour and physical activity: Associations with cardio-metabolic health in overweight and obese children |
| Session: | Activity and weight in children and young people (ISPAH Council on Physical Activity and Obesity) |
| Room: | Room 102 |
| Session Date: | 01/11/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1100 – 1230 |
| Presentation Order: | 3.00 |
Travis Saunders
| Title: | The Acute Impact of Sedentary Behaviour and Physical Activity on Markers of Cardiometabolic Risk in Healthy Children and Youth |
| Session: | Sitting, physical activity and health in children and young people |
| Room: | Room 102 |
| Session Date: | 01/11/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1330 – 1500 |
| Presentation Order: | 7.00 |
Matthew Buman
| Title: | Estimated replacement effects of accelerometer-derived physical activity and self-reported sleep duration on chronic disease biomarkers |
| Session: | Sitting, physical activity and health in children and young people |
| Room: | Room 102 |
| Session Date: | 01/11/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1330 – 1500 |
| Presentation Order: | 8.00 |
| Title: | Multidimensional correlates of preschool children’s physical activity |
| Session: | Correlates of physical activity in children and young people |
| Room: | Room 201 |
| Session Date: | 01/11/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1530 – 1700 |
Dylan Cliff
| Title: | A hitchhiker’s guide to assessing sedentary behavior among young people: Deciding what method to use |
| Session: | Issues in the measurement of physical activity and sedentary behaviour |
| Room: | Room 204A |
| Session Date: | 01/11/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1530 – 1700 |
| Presentation Order: | 1.00 |
Gemma Ryde
| Title: | Validation of a novel measure of occupational sitting |
| Session: | Issues in the measurement of physical activity and sedentary behaviour |
| Room: | Room 204A |
| Session Date: | 01/11/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1530 – 1700 |
Bronwyn Clark
| Title: | Reliability and Validity of Adults’ Recall of Past-Day Sitting Time |
| Session: | Issues in the measurement of physical activity and sedentary behaviour |
| Session Date: | 1/11/2012 |
| Session Time: | 15:30-17:00 |
Sebastien Chastin
| Title: | SIT: Sedentary behaviour International Taxonomy. Expert concensus project and folksonomy. |
| Session: | Issues in the measurement of physical activity and sedentary behaviour |
| Room: | Room 204A |
| Session Date: | 1/11/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1530 – 1700 |
| Presentation Order: | 9.00 |
Friday, November 2
Katrien Wijndaele
| Title: | Increased objective sedentary time is associated with increased clustered cardio-metabolic risk – A six-year prospective study (ProActive) |
| Session Date: | 2/11/2012 |
| Presentation Time: | 11:30-11:35 |
Maike Neuhaus
| Title: | Efficacy of an integrated approach to reduce sitting time in office workers |
| Session: | Workplace sitting: Patterns and interventions |
| Room: | Room 102 |
| Session Date: | 02/11/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1100 – 1230 |
Gemma Ryde
| Title: | Are we chained to our desk? Assessing desk based sitting using a new objective measure of occupational sitting time |
| Session: | Workplace sitting: Patterns and interventions |
| Room: | Room 102 |
| Session Date: | 02/11/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1100 – 1230 |
Anne Grunseit
| Title: | “Thinking on your feet”: A qualitative evaluation of an installation of sit-stand desks in a medium-sized workplace |
| Session: | Workplace sitting: Patterns and interventions |
| Room: | Room 102 |
| Session Date: | 02/11/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1100 – 1230 |
| Presentation Order: | 5.00 |
Erica Hinckson
| Title: | Effects of school distance and travel mode on sedentary time in children |
| Session: | Active transport: Children and young people |
| Room: | Room 202 |
| Session Date: | 02/11/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1100 – 1230 |
| Presentation Order: | 9.00 |
Sebastien Chastin
| Title: | Developing human dynamics models of physical activity and sedentary behavior to inform interventions. |
| Session: | Intervention evaluation: Issues and challenges |
| Room: | Room 204A |
| Session Date: | 02/11/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1100 – 1230 |
| Presentation Order: | 4.00 |
Hayley Christian
| Title: | The built environment and children’s physical activity – what is ‘child friendly’? |
| Session: | Environments and physical activity: Children and young people |
| Room: | Room 202 |
| Session Date: | 02/11/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1530 – 1700 |
| Presentation Order: | 5.00 |
Stuart Biddle
| Title: | Associations between physical activity and sedentary behaviour in children: A systematic review |
| Session: | Scientific Poster Session 2 |
| Room | Bayside Gallery |
| Session Date: | 02/11/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1705 – 1830 |
Valerie Carson
| Title: | Adherence to the Canadian Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines for the Early Years (aged 0-4 years) among children from Kingston, Canada |
| Session: | Scientific Poster Session 2 |
| Room | Bayside Gallery |
| Session Date: | 02/11/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1705 – 1830 |
Mark Tremblay
| Title: | Development and launch of the Canadian Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines for the Early Years |
| Session: | Scientific Poster Session 2 |
| Room | Bayside Gallery |
| Session Date: | 02/11/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1705 – 1830 |
Mette Aadahl
| Title: | Reduction of sitting time in sedentary men and women. A randomized controlled Trial (Sedentary Intervention Trial) |
| Session: | Scientific Poster Session 2 |
| Room | Bayside Gallery |
| Session Date: | 02/11/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1705 – 1830 |
Saturday, November 3
Kylie Hesketh
| Title: | How do infants spend their time? Physical activity and restraint in 3, 9 and 19 month old children |
| Session: | Patterns of physical activity and sedentary behaviour in children |
| Room: | Room 201 |
| Session Date: | 02/11/2012 |
| Session Time: | 1530 – 1700 |
| Presentation Order: | 2.00 |
Cindy Gray
| Title: | Can professional soccer clubs help male fans lose weight and become more physically active? Preliminary evidence from the |
| Session: | Physical activity and weight interventions |
| Room: | Room 102 |
| Session Date: | 03/11/2012 |
| Session Time: | 09:30-10:00 |
| Presentation Order: | 3.00 |
More discussion of the definition for sedentary behaviour
Earlier this year more than 50 SBRN members signed a letter promoting an updated definition of the term “sedentary behaviour” (you can view that letter here). That discussion has continued, as SBRN member Dr Ragnar Viir published (with Alar Veraksitš) a comment on the new definition on the website of Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism (available here).
Drs Viir and Veraksitš write:
We welcome the proposal by Sedentary Behaviour Research Network (2012) to define standard terms whereby to describe our researches into the modern problem of excessive sitting. However, we have some concerns. Neither standing nor sitting can adequately be described just in terms of energy expenditure or neuromuscular activity. We must also include the seemingly subtle but measurable and significant effect of gravity on those muscles holding the body upright (Viir et al. 2007; Veraksitš et al. 2012).
Furthermore, if one defines “reclining” as lying down, then that is not “sedentary behaviour” at all; on the contrary, it has the crucial function of obtaining relief from the above effort, as we have shown (Viir et al. 2007; Veraksitš et al. 2012), and this has important application in rehabilitation (Viir et al.
2008).For our research to be thorough it is important to be alert to the significant effect of gravity, subtle though it may be.
In response to this comment, Dr Mark Tremblay wrote:
I appreciate the concerns expressed by Drs. Viir and Veraksitš. They raise an important point regarding the effects of gravity on physiological functions while in different postures. Furthermore, nuances on how to define “reclining” are raised. The proposal by SBRN that sedentary behaviour be defined as any waking behaviour characterized by an energy expenditure ≤1.5 METs while in a sitting or reclining posture does not disregard the potential importance of gravity or other mechanical (e.g., pressure on tissues of contact points from sitting or type of clothing being worn) or environmental (e.g., indoor vs. outdoor) factors that may provoke, mediate, or moderate physiological or even cognitive functions. Nor does the definition preclude the study of sedentary behaviours such that perhaps a whole “family” of sedentary behaviour subcategories may emerge based on their physiological influence.
The fact that this discussion is occurring is evidence that our earlier letter is achieving its objective and that the mission of SBRN is being successfully pursued. Thanks and please keep the discussion going!
Both articles are available via the website of Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism.
SBRN Reaches 300 Members!
Today SBRN reached 300 members! Thanks to everyone who has joined the network so far, we look forward to many more members in the future!
