The acceptability and feasibility of increasing standing and reducing sitting in office worksites

Sedentary behaviour (low energy-expenditure seated activity) is a risk factor for cardio-metabolic disease, independently of PA. Sitting is a risk even to those who do 150mins per week of moderate to vigorous physical activity. This is an urgent public health concern, because modern UK working practices are increasingly sedentary. Objective data suggest office workers typically spend around two-thirds of the day at a desk and sit for 6 hours out of 8 hours in the typical working day. Standing in the office tends to encourage other forms of light activity (e.g. walking in the office), and reduces and sustains glucose and insulin responses. Standard cardio-respiratory responses of standing vs. sitting equate to increased energy expenditure of 0.5-1.0 additional kcal/min [13]. Accumulating 3 hours per week of standing over a year could generate an additional annual energy expenditure of 25,000-30,000 calories - equivalent in activity levels to running around 10 marathons. Substituting workplace sitting for standing offers a relatively inexpensive, accessible and potentially effective means to counter low occupational energy expenditure and improve health by integrating light activity into sedentary routines. Behaviour change interventions (BCIs) promoting standing at work can increase light activity and so improve workforce health, but how they would be received is not known. We propose an intervention that will encourage the replacement of sitting with standing in university workers. It will involve making motivational and structural changes to make standing a habitual response to everyday situations within the workplace environment. This multidisciplinary project comprises three work packages (WPs), using qualitative and quantitative methods, to assess acceptability and feasibility of a habit-based BCI to reduce desk-based sitting. The WPs address psychological, social and organisational facilitators and barriers to modifying work practices, which must be understood to increase the likelihood of our intervention being implemented. WP1 uses qualitative methods to document university workers' experiences of self-determined standing in workplace meetings where sitting is normative. WP2 focuses on motor and cognitive performance, as a proxy for productivity, when sitting or standing, with or without distraction. WPs1-2 will aid development of a habit-based BCI to displace workplace sitting with standing. WP3 uses in-depth interviews and activity monitoring among university staff to examine whether the intervention is acceptable to university workers. Together, the WPs fill a knowledge gap on achieving long-term substitution of sitting with standing in a manner acceptable to workers and employers alike.

Sitting is a risk factor for cardio-metabolic disease independently of physical activity (PA), and replacing sitting with standing has cardio-metabolic benefits. Many UK adults have sedentary desk-based occupations, and behaviour change interventions (BCIs) promoting standing can increase light PA and improve workforce health. How such BCIs would be received is not known. Our intervention seeks to replace sitting with standing among university workers, via motivational and structural changes to make standing a habitual response to everyday cues. This multidisciplinary project comprises three work packages (WPs), using qualitative and quantitative methods, to assess acceptability and feasibility of a habit-based BCI to reduce desk-based sitting. WPs address psychological, social and organisational facilitators and barriers to modifying work practices. WP1 uses qualitative methods to document university workers' experiences of self-determined standing in workplace meetings where sitting is normative. WP2 focuses on motor and cognitive performance, as a proxy for productivity, when sitting or standing, with or without distraction. WPs1-2 will aid development of a habit-based BCI to displace workplace sitting with standing. WP3 uses in-depth interviews and activity monitoring among university staff to examine intervention acceptability and feasibility. The WPs will fill a knowledge gap on achieving long-term substitution of sitting with standing in a manner acceptable to workers and employers alike.