Sedentary Behavior and Health Outcomes Essay

Sedentary Behavior as an Independent Factor

Physical activity plays an important role in the overall health of an individual. It has been established that physical activity is beneficial for eliminating the risk of death related to the sedentary time (Ekelund et al., 2016). However, the lifestyle of modern people involves a vast amount of time spent sitting, and a wide variety of professions and occupations demand different levels of immobility. Sedentary time can affect people’s health in many ways.

For example, sedentary behavior has been previously associated with an unhealthy diet in young people (Hobbs, Pearson, Foster, & Biddle, 2014). Therefore, it is crucial to study sedentary behavior as an independent factor influencing health outcomes.Sedentary Behavior and Health Outcomes Essay

A systematic review conducted by Biswas et al. (2016) provides a comprehensive analysis of the relationships between sedentary behavior and various health outcomes among adult people regardless of their physical activity levels. The authors hypothesized that sedentary time would be independently associated with cardiovascular and noncardiovascular outcomes. The introduction of the paper presents the purpose of the research and contains an explanation for the chosen approach: “studies suggest that long periods of sitting have deleterious health effects independent of adults meeting physical activity guidelines” (Biswas et al., 2016, p. 123). Moreover, the literature discussed in the beginning implies that physical activity and sedentary behavior could influence people’s health as mutually exclusive factors.Sedentary Behavior and Health Outcomes Essay

The Studies Reviewed and Data Analysis of Their Findings

Twenty thousand nine hundred eighty research papers were chosen from MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Web of Knowledge, and Google Scholar databases according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Authors selected articles that evaluated sedentary behavior in adult participants as the primary predictor, independent of physical activity, and correlated to at least one health outcome.

All of them were assessed for quality with the help of an evaluation tool previously validated and utilized by other researchers, and then data analysis was performed using Comprehensive Meta-analysis, version 2 (Biostat). Odds ratios, relative risk ratios, and HRs with associated 95% confidence levels were collected from papers for each outcome, if available. Most studies used prospective cohort designs, and 3 of them used cross-sectional and case-control study designs; all but one study used self-reported methods to collect data on participants’ sedentary behavior and physical activity.Sedentary Behavior and Health Outcomes Essay