Can we reduce sedentary behaviours in young people?
Our argument so far is that single markers of ‘couch potato-ism’, such as TV viewing, may not be good indicators of sedentary lifestyles. We need to look at more complete profiles of behaviours, including physical activity. This is an important message in obesity research. Nevertheless, there are many interesting and easy sedentary pursuits that may contribute to a negative energy balance and weight gain. As far as young people are concerned, there are rather few intervention studies testing whether reductions in specifically targeted sedentary behaviours can produce weight loss. We recently looked at 11 such studies (Biddle, 2004). Of six interventions with obese children, one made specifically targeted sedentary behaviours conditional on being physically active (for example, playing video games or watching videos on the TV were only allowed after a period of riding a stationary cycle). Results showed an increase in physical activity, a decrease in the targeted sedentary behaviours, b
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