Active buildings: modelling physical activity and movement in office buildings
Active buildings: modelling physical activity and movement in office buildings
Research Team: Professor Jane Wardle, Professor Alexi Marmot, Dr Marcella Ucci, Dr Abigail Fisher, Dr Lee Smith, Dr Richard Spinney, Marina Konstantatou, Alexia Sawyer, Dr Mark Hamer, Dr Benjamin Gardner & Professor Gareth Ambler
Who's involved: University College London
November 2012 - March 2015
Although it is well documented that regular exercise and reduced sitting has positive health benefits, the number of people regularly exercising remains low and sitting time remains high.
Office layout, in particular the number and location of office building destinations (e.g. printers and meeting rooms), may influence both walking time and characteristics of sitting time. To date, there has been no research which has focused on the layout of indoor office environments and how this impacts on step counts and sitting time.
This study has found that office-based workers demonstrate high levels of sitting during both the working week and weekend. Interventions that target the working day and the evenings (weekday and weekend) to displace sitting with activity, may be the most effective way to reduce offer sitting times. This would increase physical activity levels and therefore benefit health.
This research has highlighted that the perceived discouragement of breaks from management decrease step counts in the work place, and should be investigated further in intervention studies. The findings are important for informing approaches to increase physical activity and reduce sitting in office-based workers.
NIHR SPHR’s Active Buildings study, a unique collaboration between public health, built environment and computer science researchers, has found that office-based workers demonstrate high levels of sitting during both the working week and weekend.
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