Prof Marie Murphy (Ulster) –
There is strong relationship between time spent in sitting and many health outcomes including, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Sedentary behaviour is defined as waking activity with very low levels of energy expenditure and a sitting or reclining posture (SBRN 2012). In modern society sedentary behaviour in adults has become increasingly prevalent with TV viewing and other screen-focused behaviours, prolonged sitting in the workplace, and time spent sitting in cars taking up most of our waking hours. Objective data suggests that UK men and women actually spend approximately 7.5 and 7 hours per day respectively being sedentary (Ekelund 2009). Conversely, interrupting sedentary time and/or replacing it with light-intensity activity has been shown to improve several markers of health. Obesity may act as a mediator between sedentary behaviours and negative health outcomes with more sedentary people more likely to become overweight and obese which then has an impact on health (Same 2016). This presentation will review a range of local, national and international interventions aimed at the individual, environmental and policy levels to reduce sedentary behaviour making policy recommendations to guide future approaches to this important objective.
This seminar took place on 14 February 2018
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Policy Briefing
Presentation