Theme: The science of sedentary behaviorSedentary Behaviors and Subsequent Health Outcomes in Adults: A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Studies, 1996–2011
Section snippets
Context
Today's environment is distinctively different from that of the past century. Information and communication technology and labor-saving devices are now ubiquitous across many settings,1 substantially reducing demands for physical activity and, consequently, energy expenditure.2 For adults, the most obvious changes evident are in the amount of time that is spent sitting and in sedentary behaviors.
The term sedentary behavior (from the Latin word sedere, “to sit”) describes a distinct class of
Description of Search and Selection Process
Three search strategies were applied to identify relevant literature for this review. In June 2010, four existing literature reviews on the association of sedentary behavior and health outcomes initially were screened for any publications that matched the current inclusion criteria.4, 5, 8, 9 A systematic literature search was then conducted in Web of Science, MEDLINE, PubMed, and PsycINFO using three blocks of terms to identify additional papers not reported in the reviews. The first search
Evidence Synthesis
Of the 48 studies identified, 43 used a self-reported measure of either total sitting time (n=9); TV viewing time only (n=12); TV viewing time and other screen-time behaviors (n=14); or TV viewing time plus other sedentary behaviors (n=8). Two studies used both a self-reported measure of total sitting time and TV viewing time and other screen-time behaviors; two used a device (heart rate or accelerometry) measure of sedentary time; and one used both a device measure of sedentary time and a
Discussion
This paper builds on previous reviews of sedentary behavior, specifically focusing on prospective studies conducted in adults from 1996 to January 2011. There is now an emerging body of evidence to indicate that sedentary behavior may be a distinct risk factor for multiple health outcomes, including mortality. Further, the adverse relationships observed with sedentary behavior in many of these longitudinal studies have been shown to persist even when physical activity has been accounted for
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