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A Call to Clarify the Intensity and Classification of Standing Behavior

Public health guidelines for physical activity now include recommendations to break up prolonged sitting with light-intensity activities. Concurrently, interventions to increase standing have emerged, especially within the workplace in the form of sit–stand or standing workstations. Moreover, in sho...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Kowalsky, Robert J., Stoner, Lee, Faghy, Mark A., Barone Gibbs, Bethany
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8391207/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34444209
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18168460
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author Kowalsky, Robert J.
Stoner, Lee
Faghy, Mark A.
Barone Gibbs, Bethany
author_facet Kowalsky, Robert J.
Stoner, Lee
Faghy, Mark A.
Barone Gibbs, Bethany
author_sort Kowalsky, Robert J.
collection PubMed
description Public health guidelines for physical activity now include recommendations to break up prolonged sitting with light-intensity activities. Concurrently, interventions to increase standing have emerged, especially within the workplace in the form of sit–stand or standing workstations. Moreover, in short-duration studies, breaking up prolonged sitting with standing has been associated improved cardiometabolic outcomes. Publicly available estimates of the intensity of standing range from 1.5 to 2.3 metabolic equivalents (METs), neatly classifying standing as a light-intensity activity (>1.5 to <3.0 METs). Further delineation between ‘active’ and ‘passive’ standing has been proposed, with corresponding METs of >2.0 METs and ≤2.0 METs, respectively. However, this study reviews data suggesting that some standing (e.g., while performing deskwork) is substantially below the minimum light intensity activity threshold of 1.5 METs. These data bring into question whether standing should be universally classified as a light-intensity behavior. The objectives of this study are to (i) highlight discrepancies in classifying standing behavior in the human movement spectrum continuum, and (ii) to propose a realignment of the ‘active’ vs. ‘passive’ standing threshold to match the light intensity threshold to help provide a clearer research framework and subsequent public health messaging for the expected health benefits from standing.
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spelling pubmed-83912072021-08-28 A Call to Clarify the Intensity and Classification of Standing Behavior Kowalsky, Robert J. Stoner, Lee Faghy, Mark A. Barone Gibbs, Bethany Int J Environ Res Public Health Communication Public health guidelines for physical activity now include recommendations to break up prolonged sitting with light-intensity activities. Concurrently, interventions to increase standing have emerged, especially within the workplace in the form of sit–stand or standing workstations. Moreover, in short-duration studies, breaking up prolonged sitting with standing has been associated improved cardiometabolic outcomes. Publicly available estimates of the intensity of standing range from 1.5 to 2.3 metabolic equivalents (METs), neatly classifying standing as a light-intensity activity (>1.5 to <3.0 METs). Further delineation between ‘active’ and ‘passive’ standing has been proposed, with corresponding METs of >2.0 METs and ≤2.0 METs, respectively. However, this study reviews data suggesting that some standing (e.g., while performing deskwork) is substantially below the minimum light intensity activity threshold of 1.5 METs. These data bring into question whether standing should be universally classified as a light-intensity behavior. The objectives of this study are to (i) highlight discrepancies in classifying standing behavior in the human movement spectrum continuum, and (ii) to propose a realignment of the ‘active’ vs. ‘passive’ standing threshold to match the light intensity threshold to help provide a clearer research framework and subsequent public health messaging for the expected health benefits from standing. MDPI 2021-08-10 /pmc/articles/PMC8391207/ /pubmed/34444209 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18168460 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/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 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Communication
Kowalsky, Robert J.
Stoner, Lee
Faghy, Mark A.
Barone Gibbs, Bethany
A Call to Clarify the Intensity and Classification of Standing Behavior
title A Call to Clarify the Intensity and Classification of Standing Behavior
title_full A Call to Clarify the Intensity and Classification of Standing Behavior
title_fullStr A Call to Clarify the Intensity and Classification of Standing Behavior
title_full_unstemmed A Call to Clarify the Intensity and Classification of Standing Behavior
title_short A Call to Clarify the Intensity and Classification of Standing Behavior
title_sort call to clarify the intensity and classification of standing behavior
topic Communication
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8391207/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34444209
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18168460
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