Effect of Breaking up Prolonged Sitting on Metabolic Flexibility

University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Health Behavior

Treatments: Behavioral: Sitting + 1 bout of activity; Behavioral: Sitting + microbursts of activity; Behavioral: Uninterrupted sitting

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02258438

14-0429

UL1TR001082 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

The investigators propose in this project to determine the effect of 3 days of frequent interruption of prolonged sitting on metabolic health in healthy overweight sedentary adults (n=24), as compared to 3 days including a single long bout of isocaloric exercise or a control condition where subjects do not exercise but are subjected to prolonged sitting. The investigators believe that this proposed project will provide an initial evidence base for the health benefits of breaking up prolonged sitting with short bursts of moderate-intensity activity, like walking.

Full description

Although public-health recommendations to engage in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (at least 30min, 5 days / week) have been widely promulgated by the government, most people are physically inactive. Sedentary behaviors, like time spent sitting, are associated with serious implications on metabolic health, indicating that even in individuals who regularly exercise a reduction in time spent sitting can confer health benefits. Encouraging recent evidence shows that walking breaks throughout the day are an effective strategy to offset the deleterious effects of prolonged uninterrupted sitting. Further data however are needed to better understand the effect of these microbursts of activity along the day. The investigators propose in this project to determine the effect of 3 days of frequent interruption of prolonged sitting on metabolic health in healthy overweight sedentary adults (n=24), as compared to 3 days including a single long bout of isocaloric exercise or a control condition where subjects do not exercise but are subjected to prolonged sitting. Plasma glucose, insulin, triglycerides and free fatty acids concentrations and the use of substrate (glucose, fat or protein) to provide energy to the body in response to meals consumption will be measured on day 3 of each of these three conditions. The investigators will furthermore assess the ability of the participants to perform the interventions on physical activity at the end of each day over the three days of intervention (2 days in free-living conditions and one day in a controlled environment). The investigators believe that this proposed project will provide an initial evidence base for the health benefits of breaking up prolonged sitting with short bursts of moderate-intensity activity, like walking. This innovative strategy may be more effective at combating the adverse effects of sedentary behaviors than more traditional approaches like structured exercise.

Enrollment: 28 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 19 to 45 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• overweight but weight stable (less than +/- 3kg over previous 6 months) male and female adults (n=24) will be recruited.
• age between 19-45 years old,
• a BMI of 27-33 kg/m2,
• inactive (≤ 1.5hr/wk of moderate-to-vigorous activity),
• sedentary (office employees who are spending more than 6hrs/day in sitting position) and
• English-speaking.

Exclusion criteria

• any history of renal, cardiovascular or hepatic diseases,
• type 1 or 2 diabetes,
• cancer,
• pregnancy,
• smoking,
• consumption of drugs or alcohol (>40g/d),
• any medications known to interfere with lipid or energy metabolism,
• known physical activity contraindications, or major illness/physical problems (acute or chronic) that may limit their ability to perform the walking activities and
• menopause (defined as no menses in the prior 6 months). The use of birth pill control will be accepted. Women are asked to avoid pregnancy until completion of Condition C.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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28 participants in 3 patient groups

Uninterrupted sitting

Experimental group

Description:

Patient will refrain from any structured activity and reduce any daily life activity. The patient will spend 24 hours in the calorimeter room. During the 24 hours the patient will remain sedentary for the 24 hours but will be able to watch TV, computer work or read.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Uninterrupted sitting

Sitting + 1 bout of activity

Experimental group

Description:

The patient will be asked to perform the 45 minutes of moderate-exercise intervention in the morning once per day for two days in their daily life. This bout of exercise will be supervised by study staff on one of the treadmills On day 3 the patient will report at the Clinical and Translational Research Center (CTRC) of the University Hospital of Colorado and will spend 24hr in the room calorimeter. During the day, you will be asked to sit quietly in a chair, except to rise from the chair to void, and to perform one bout of 45-min moderate-intensity walking on a treadmill.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Sitting + 1 bout of activity

Sitting + microbursts of activity

Experimental group

Description:

The patient will be asked to refrain from any structured exercise running, swimming, lifting weights, yoga, dancing, etc.) for two days but to walk for the 5 minute intervention each hour between 1000 and 1800. On day 3, The patient will report at the CTRC of the University Hospital of Colorado and will spend 24hr in the room calorimeter. During the day, the patient will be asked to rise from the seated position every hour for 9 hours from 1000 to 1800 to complete 5 min moderate-intensity walking on a treadmill, which represents a total of 45 min.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Sitting + microbursts of activity