NEWS & EVENTS

Workshop on Identifying Sedentary Behavior Research Priorities - NHLBI/NIA

NIH
Bethesda, MD

Description

In 2013, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) in collaboration with the National Institute on Aging (NIA) convened a series of workshops that included basic, epidemiological, clinical and intervention-research experts in sedentary behavior, to help develop research recommendations for cardiovascular disease prevention and management, and healthy aging.

Background/Rationale

Based on current reports of insufficient levels of population adherence to current evidence-based physical activity guideline recommendations, and on the emergence of recent epidemiological and laboratory data suggesting independent, detrimental health effects of sedentary behavior, the workshop participants sought to identify research gaps that could be addressed by the NHLBI and NIA research portfolios.

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Recap

Meeting Overview

Thirty-seven sedentary behavior research scientists from the US, UK, Canada and Australia were invited to participate as chairs, co-chairs, session coordinators, presenters, discussants or junior scientist investigators, in a series of four virtual webinar sessions developed and convened over a 9 month period. Forty other scientists and interested parties participated as audience members. The sessions focused on the: 1. Epidemiology of Sedentary Behavior; 2. Physiology of Sedentary Behavior and its Relationship to Health Outcomes; 3. Influences on Sedentary Behavior and Interventions to Reduce Sedentary Behavior and; 4. Novel Strategies and Approaches for Sedentary Behavior Research.

Research Recommendations

As part of the meeting outcome, participants of each session were asked to deliberate on their assigned topic and conclude their meeting session with some key recommendations for future research directions. Sample recommendations that emerged included the need for the research community to:

a.) Refine the definition of sedentary behavior to facilitate risk categorization appropriately.

b.) Improve and standardize methods and approaches to assess sedentary behavior.

c.) Evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of different Sedentary Behavior intervention strategies across the life course and population groups.

d.) Determine the molecular basis by which sedentary behavior accelerates the loss of maximal aerobic capacity and muscle strength.

e.) Enhance the efficiency of observational research and facilitate pooling of data from cohort studies

The proceedings of the meeting, including the complete set of recommendations emanating from each webinar session, have been published in five-linked papers, accessible above. Questions about the meeting and its outcomes can be directed to the contacts listed below.

NHLBI Contact:

Josephine Boyington, PhD, MPH

boyingtonje@mail.nih.gov

NIA Contact:

Lyndon Joseph, PhD

josephlj@nia.nih.gov

Planning Group members:

Josephine Boyington, PhD, MPH; NHLBI, Program Officer;

Lyndon Joseph, PhD; NIA, Program Officer;

Russell Pate, PhD; University of South Carolina, Meeting Co-chair;

Roger Fielding PhD; Tufts University, Meeting Co-chair;

Funding: The workshop was jointly funded by the NHLBI, NIA and the NIH Office of Disease Prevention.