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Learning to Stand: The Acceptability and Feasibility of Introducing Standing Desks into College Classrooms

Prolonged sedentary behavior is an independent risk factor for multiple negative health outcomes. Evidence supports introducing standing desks into K-12 classrooms and work settings to reduce sitting time, but no studies have been conducted in the college classroom environment. The present study exp...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Benzo, Roberto M., Gremaud, Allene L., Jerome, Matthew, Carr, Lucas J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4997509/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27537901
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13080823
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author Benzo, Roberto M.
Gremaud, Allene L.
Jerome, Matthew
Carr, Lucas J.
author_facet Benzo, Roberto M.
Gremaud, Allene L.
Jerome, Matthew
Carr, Lucas J.
author_sort Benzo, Roberto M.
collection PubMed
description Prolonged sedentary behavior is an independent risk factor for multiple negative health outcomes. Evidence supports introducing standing desks into K-12 classrooms and work settings to reduce sitting time, but no studies have been conducted in the college classroom environment. The present study explored the acceptability and feasibility of introducing standing desks in college classrooms. A total of 993 students and 149 instructors completed a single online needs assessment survey. This cross-sectional study was conducted during the fall semester of 2015 at a large Midwestern University. The large majority of students (95%) reported they would prefer the option to stand in class. Most students (82.7%) reported they currently sit during their entire class time. Most students (76.6%) and instructors (86.6%) reported being in favor of introducing standing desks into college classrooms. More than half of students and instructors predicted having access to standing desks in class would improve student’s “physical health”, “attention”, and “restlessness”. Collectively, these findings support the acceptability of introducing standing desks in college classrooms. Future research is needed to test the feasibility, cost-effectiveness and efficacy of introducing standing desks in college classrooms. Such studies would be useful for informing institutional policies regarding classroom designs.
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spelling pubmed-49975092016-08-26 Learning to Stand: The Acceptability and Feasibility of Introducing Standing Desks into College Classrooms Benzo, Roberto M. Gremaud, Allene L. Jerome, Matthew Carr, Lucas J. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Prolonged sedentary behavior is an independent risk factor for multiple negative health outcomes. Evidence supports introducing standing desks into K-12 classrooms and work settings to reduce sitting time, but no studies have been conducted in the college classroom environment. The present study explored the acceptability and feasibility of introducing standing desks in college classrooms. A total of 993 students and 149 instructors completed a single online needs assessment survey. This cross-sectional study was conducted during the fall semester of 2015 at a large Midwestern University. The large majority of students (95%) reported they would prefer the option to stand in class. Most students (82.7%) reported they currently sit during their entire class time. Most students (76.6%) and instructors (86.6%) reported being in favor of introducing standing desks into college classrooms. More than half of students and instructors predicted having access to standing desks in class would improve student’s “physical health”, “attention”, and “restlessness”. Collectively, these findings support the acceptability of introducing standing desks in college classrooms. Future research is needed to test the feasibility, cost-effectiveness and efficacy of introducing standing desks in college classrooms. Such studies would be useful for informing institutional policies regarding classroom designs. MDPI 2016-08-15 2016-08 /pmc/articles/PMC4997509/ /pubmed/27537901 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13080823 Text en © 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Benzo, Roberto M.
Gremaud, Allene L.
Jerome, Matthew
Carr, Lucas J.
Learning to Stand: The Acceptability and Feasibility of Introducing Standing Desks into College Classrooms
title Learning to Stand: The Acceptability and Feasibility of Introducing Standing Desks into College Classrooms
title_full Learning to Stand: The Acceptability and Feasibility of Introducing Standing Desks into College Classrooms
title_fullStr Learning to Stand: The Acceptability and Feasibility of Introducing Standing Desks into College Classrooms
title_full_unstemmed Learning to Stand: The Acceptability and Feasibility of Introducing Standing Desks into College Classrooms
title_short Learning to Stand: The Acceptability and Feasibility of Introducing Standing Desks into College Classrooms
title_sort learning to stand: the acceptability and feasibility of introducing standing desks into college classrooms
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4997509/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27537901
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13080823
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