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Examining Sedentary Work and Weight Gain Prospectively: Evidence from NLSY79
Our previous study showed that obese adults are at greater risk of work-related injury. Several studies have attempted to address whether long sitting time at work contributes to obesity, yet the results remain inconclusive. To better evaluate sitting time’s potential contribution to obesity, we initiated a study that addressed temporality more appropriately and controlled for confounding more effectively using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) from 2002-2010.
METHOD
We used BMI as our outcome. The primary explanatory variable was “time spent on sitting”, extracted from O*NET (Occupational Information Network) and linked to the main NLSY79 data by occupation. Sitting time consists of five categories, ranging from never (1) to continuously or almost continuously (5). Workplace sitting time at six months prior to interview was used to predict the outcome in each wave. Age, education, weekly frequencies of leisure-time exercise were included as controls in our fixed-effects models.
RESULTS
The overall results suggested that workplace sitting time was significantly associated with higher BMI, however, the result differed substantially by gender. For men, long sitting time was significantly associated with higher BMI (p < 0.05). For women, the association was not significant.
CONSLUSION
Ours is the first prospective study to document a significant gain in weight attributable to sitting time at work among males using a relatively large sample size and robust statistical methods. The findings have implications for the design of jobs, work stations, and wellness initiatives to help prevent injuries and other health outcomes associated with obesity.
Learning Areas:
Biostatistics, economicsOccupational health and safety
Social and behavioral sciences
Learning Objectives:
Evaluate current literature on the relationship between long sitting time at work and weight gain.
Design research methods which address temporality more appropriately and control for confounding effectively.
Discuss the results’ implications for the design of jobs, work stations, and wellness initiatives to help prevent injuries and other health outcomes associated with obesity
Keyword(s): Obesity, Occupational Health and Safety
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am interested in the risk factors of workplace injury; my colleagues and I have published several papers on this topic, ranging from multiple jobholding to obesity. I hold a Ph.D. in demography and have substantial experience conducting quantitative analysis using national data sets.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.