OBJECTIVELY-MEASURED SEDENTARY BEHAVIOR AND METABOLIC RISK FACTORS IN UNIVERSITY OFFICE WORKERS

L. Ouk, B. Ringold, S. Wolf, D. Galbraith, S. Grancorvitz, M. Reilly, & K. Wallace University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Eau Claire, WI Background/Purpose: Sedentary behavior (SB; activities that require low levels of energy expenditure) is becoming more prevalent among office workers. Evidence suggests that SB is correlated with dyslipidemia, increased abdominal obesity, and hypertension—all of which are components of metabolic syndrome. Methods: The participants in this study were university office workers who were required to sit for at least 50% of their work hours. Accelerometers, actical (worn on wrist and waistband) and activPAL (worn on thigh), were utilized to measure the amounts of sitting, standing, and stepping activities engaged during office work on 5 consecutive days. Participants were also assessed for body mass index, waist circumference, resting blood pressure, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein level, and fasting blood glucose. A set of correlation analyses were employed to examine the association between time spent in occupational SB and individual metabolic risk factors. Results: Participants spent an average of 5.76 ± 0.81 hours sitting and 76.86 ± 19.31 minutes in light-intensity physical activity during their work hours. One metabolic factor met the requirements for being classified as a risk factor (TG; 156.14 ± 125.06 mg/dL). There were no significant correlations between SB and light-intensity physical activity during work hours and metabolic risk factors. Conclusions/Future Implications: With a larger sample size and varying categories of officer workers involved, further investigation on the current status of occupational sitting is warranted to better understand its impact on health of the workers. NACSM Professional Sponsor: Saori Braun, Ph