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Standing Desks in a Grade 4 Classroom over the Full School Year.

ABSTRACT: School-aged children are spending increasingly long periods of time engaged in sedentary activities such as sitting. Recent school-based studies have examined the intervention effects of introducing standing desks into the classroom in the short and medium term. The aim of this repeated-measures crossover design study was to assess the sit-stand behaviour, waking sedentary time and physical activity, and musculoskeletal discomfort at the start and the end of a full school year following the provision of standing desks into a Grade 4 classroom. Accelerometry and musculoskeletal discomfort were measured in both standing and traditional desk conditions at the start and at the end of the school year. At both time points, when students used a standing desk, there was an increase in standing time (17-26 min/school day) and a reduction in sitting time (17-40 min/school day). There was no significant difference in sit-stand behaviour during school hours or sedentary time and physical activity during waking hours between the start and the end of the school year. Students were less likely to report discomfort in the neck and shoulders when using a standing desk and this finding was consistent over the full school year. The beneficial effects of using a standing desk were maintained over the full school year, after the novelty of using a standing desk had worn off.

SUBMITTER: Parry S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6801749 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Standing Desks in a Grade 4 Classroom over the Full School Year.

Parry Sharon S Ir de Oliveira Beatriz B McVeigh Joanne A JA Ee Joyln J Jacques Angela A Straker Leon L

International journal of environmental research and public health 20190925 19

School-aged children are spending increasingly long periods of time engaged in sedentary activities such as sitting. Recent school-based studies have examined the intervention effects of introducing standing desks into the classroom in the short and medium term. The aim of this repeated-measures crossover design study was to assess the sit-stand behaviour, waking sedentary time and physical activity, and musculoskeletal discomfort at the start and the end of a full school year following the prov ...[more]

PMID: 31557874

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Project description:PurposeThis quasi-experimental study examined the impact of height-adjustable desks in combination with prompts to break up prolonged sitting time during class time and identified social and motivational factors associated with breaking up sitting time among adolescents. Teachers' perceptions of strategies were also examined.MethodsOver 17 weeks, 1 classroom in a government secondary school in Melbourne, Australia, was equipped with 27 height-adjustable desks and prompts (posters and desk stickers) to break up classroom sitting time. Teachers received professional development in the use of the desks and prompts. One group of adolescents (n = 55) had 2-5 lessons/week using the height-adjustable desks in an intervention classroom, and a comparison group matched by year level and subject (n = 50) was taught in traditional "seated" classrooms. Adolescents wore an activPAL monitor at baseline (T0), 4 weeks (T1), and 17 weeks (T2) and completed a survey at T0 and T2. Six teachers participated in interviews at T2. Effect sizes were calculated (d).ResultsLinear mixed models found that, compared to the traditional "seated" classrooms, the adolescents in the intervention classroom had significantly lower sitting time (T1: -9.7 min/lesson, d = -0.96; T2: -6.7 min/lesson, d = -0.70) and time spent in sitting bouts >15 min (T2: -11.2 min/lesson, d = -0.62), and had significantly higher standing time (T1: 7.3 min/lesson, d = 0.84; T2: 5.8 min/lesson, d = 0.91), number of breaks from sitting (T1: 1.3 breaks/lesson, d = 0.49; T2: 1.8 breaks/lesson, d = 0.67), and stepping time (T1: 2.5 min/lesson, d = 0.66). Intervention classroom adolescents reported greater habit strength (d = 0.58), self-efficacy for breaking up sitting time (d = 0.75), and indicated that having a teacher/classmate remind them to stand as helpful (d = 0.50).ConclusionThis intervention shows promise for targeting sitting behaviors in the classroom and indicates that incorporating social and motivational strategies may further enhance outcomes.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Children and adolescents spend a lot of time sitting at school. Implementing standing desks in the classroom is one potential strategy to reduce and break up sitting time. The first aim was to evaluate the effect of implementing standing desks in classrooms in primary and secondary schools on pupils' sitting-related behaviour and determinants. The second aim was to quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate the process of implementing the desks in the classroom. METHODS:We conducted a cluster-randomised controlled trial with a pre-, mid-, and post-test design including 10 intervention schools (5 primary, 5 secondary schools) and 9 control schools (5 primary, 4 secondary schools) across Flanders, Belgium. Three standing desks were placed in one class in each intervention school for 6 months. At pre-, mid- and post-test, all pupils (n?=?311; 54.5% girls) completed a questionnaire whilst a subsample of three pupils per class wore an activPAL inclinometer for one school week. Focus groups with pupils and interviews with teachers were conducted at mid-test. Process evaluation questions were added to the mid- and post-test questionnaire for the intervention group. Qualitative data were analysed using NVivo 11. Multilevel regression analyses were conducted in MLwiN 2.31. RESULTS:Few significant intervention effects were observed, although activPAL data showed favourable intervention effects on primary school pupils' sitting and standing time and bouts. Focus groups and interviews showed a generally positive attitude towards using standing desks in both teachers and pupils, although some barriers and suggestions for future implementation were noted, for example regarding the amount of desks per classroom. Quantitative process evaluation data showed a low individual use of standing desks (between 57 and 83 min per week), which significantly decreased across the school year for primary school pupils only. CONCLUSIONS:Although pupils and teachers were generally positive about the desks, relatively few intervention effects were found. Future studies should consider how to optimise the use of standing desks in classrooms to impact on sitting time, by for example, determining the most feasible intervention design and by encouraging the continued use of standing desks throughout the school year. Moreover, additional intervention strategies (e.g. educational strategies) might be needed. TRIAL REGISTRATION:NCT03163004 . ClinicalTrials.gov. Registered 22 May 2017 (retrospectively registered).

Dataset Information

Standing Desks in a Grade 4 Classroom over the Full School Year.

Publications

Standing Desks in a Grade 4 Classroom over the Full School Year.

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