Treadmill desks: A 1‐year prospective trial12. (25th May 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Koepp, Gabriel A.; Manohar, Chinmay U.; McCrady‐Spitzer, Shelly K.; Ben‐Ner, Avner; Hamann, Darla J.; Runge, Carlisle F.; Levine, James A.
• Is Part Of: Obesity. Volume 21:Number 4(2013:Apr.)
• Page Start: 705
• Page End: 711
• Publication Date: 2013-05-25
• Subjects: Obesity -- Periodicals; 616.398005
• DOI: 10.1002/oby.20121
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1930-7381

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en"> <title>Abstract</title> <p> <bold>Objective:</bold> Sedentariness is associated with weight gain and obesity. A treadmill desk is the combination of a standing desk and a treadmill that allow employees to work while walking at low speed.</p> <p> <bold>Design and Methods:</bold> The hypothesis was that a 1‐year intervention with treadmill desks is associated with an increase in employee daily physical activity (summation of all activity per minute) and a decrease in daily sedentary time (zero activity). Employees (<italic>n</italic> = 36; 25 women, 11 men) with sedentary jobs (87 ± 27 kg, BMI 29 ± 7 kg/m<sup>2</sup>, <italic>n</italic> = 10 Lean BMI < 25 kg/m<sup>2</sup>, <italic>n</italic> = 15 Overweight 25 < BMI < 30 kg/m<sup>2</sup>, <italic>n</italic> = 11 Obese BMI > 30 kg/m<sup>2</sup>) volunteered to have their traditional desk replaced with a treadmill desk to promote physical activity for 1 year.</p> <p> <bold>Results:</bold> Daily physical activity (using accelerometers), work performance, body composition, and blood variables were measured at Baseline and 6 and 12 months after the treadmill desk intervention. Subjects who used the treadmill desk increased daily physical activity from baseline 3, 353 ± 1, 802 activity units (AU)/day to, at 6 months, 4, 460 ± 2, 376 AU/day (<italic>P</italic> < 0.001), and at 12 months, 4, 205 ± 2, 238 AU/day (<italic>P</italic> < 0.001). Access to the treadmill desks was associated with significant decreases in daily sedentary time (zero activity) from at baseline 1, 020 ± 75 min/day to, at 6 months, 929 ± 84 min/day (<italic>P</italic> < 0.001), and at 12 months, 978 ± 95 min/day (<italic>P</italic> < 0.001). For the whole group, weight loss averaged 1.4 ± 3.3 kg (<italic>P</italic> < 0.05). Weight loss for obese subjects was 2.3 ± 3.5 kg (<italic>P</italic> < 0.03). Access to the treadmill desks was associated with increased daily physical activity compared to traditional chair‐based desks; their deployment was not associated with altered performance. For the 36 participants, fat mass did not change significantly, however, those who lost weight (<italic>n</italic> = 22) lost 3.4 ± 5.4 kg (<italic>P</italic> < 0.001) of fat mass. Weight loss was greatest in people with obesity.</p> <p> <bold>Conclusions:</bold> Access to treadmill desks may improve the health of office workers without affecting work performance.</p> </abstract>