The descriptive epidemiology of sitting in Chilean adults: Results from the National Health Survey 2009–2010

摘要

BackgroundAlthough evidence on the health effects of sedentary behavior (SB) has grown systematically in recent years, few developing countries have reported population levels of SB, especially in South America. Our objective was to describe time spent sitting in a representative sample from Chile categorized by age, gender, educational level, and body mass index (BMI).MethodsA national health survey was conducted in Chile in a nationally representative sample (n?=?5411) in 2009–2010. Sitting time (ST) was measured with the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire Version 2.ResultsData were from 5031 participants (43.26?±?0.41 years, mean?±?SE; 40.3% male). Overall, there were no gender differences in mean ST (men: 158.10?±?5.80?min/day, women 143.45?±?4.77?min/day;p?=?0.05). ST was lower in those who lived in rural areas compared with urban areas (99.4?min/dayvs.160.0?min/day;p?=?0.001). ST increased significantly with increasing BMI, but only in men (p?=?0.009), and was positively related to years of education in both men and women (p?