Effect of Breaking up Prolonged Sitting on Metabolic Flexibility

The investigators propose in this project to determine the effect of 3 days of frequent interruption of prolonged sitting on metabolic health in healthy overweight sedentary adults (n=24), as compared to 3 days including a single long bout of isocaloric exercise or a control condition where subjects do not exercise but are subjected to prolonged sitting. The investigators believe that this proposed project will provide an initial evidence base for the health benefits of breaking up prolonged sitting with short bursts of moderate-intensity activity, like walking.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Health Behavior
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Uninterrupted sitting; Behavioral: Sitting + 1 bout of activity; Behavioral: Sitting + microbursts of activity

Detailed Description

Although public-health recommendations to engage in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (at least 30min, 5 days / week) have been widely promulgated by the government, most people are physically inactive. Sedentary behaviors, like time spent sitting, are associated with serious implications on metabolic health, indicating that even in individuals who regularly exercise a reduction in time spent sitting can confer health benefits. Encouraging recent evidence shows that walking breaks throughout the day are an effective strategy to offset the deleterious effects of prolonged uninterrupted sitting. Further data however are needed to better understand the effect of these microbursts of activity along the day. The investigators propose in this project to determine the effect of 3 days of frequent interruption of prolonged sitting on metabolic health in healthy overweight sedentary adults (n=24), as compared to 3 days including a single long bout of isocaloric exercise or a control condition where subjects do not exercise but are subjected to prolonged sitting. Plasma glucose, insulin, triglycerides and free fatty acids concentrations and the use of substrate (glucose, fat or protein) to provide energy to the body in response to meals consumption will be measured on day 3 of each of these three conditions. The investigators will furthermore assess the ability of the participants to perform the interventions on physical activity at the end of each day over the three days of intervention (2 days in free-living conditions and one day in a controlled environment). The investigators believe that this proposed project will provide an initial evidence base for the health benefits of breaking up prolonged sitting with short bursts of moderate-intensity activity, like walking. This innovative strategy may be more effective at combating the adverse effects of sedentary behaviors than more traditional approaches like structured exercise.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 28
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Colorado
    • Aurora, Colorado, United States, 80045
      • University of Colorado Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 19 years to 45 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• overweight but weight stable (less than +/- 3kg over previous 6 months) male and female adults (n=24) will be recruited.
• age between 19-45 years old,
• a BMI of 27-33 kg/m2,
• inactive (≤ 1.5hr/wk of moderate-to-vigorous activity),
• sedentary (office employees who are spending more than 6hrs/day in sitting position) and
• English-speaking.

Exclusion Criteria:

• any history of renal, cardiovascular or hepatic diseases,
• type 1 or 2 diabetes,
• cancer,
• pregnancy,
• smoking,
• consumption of drugs or alcohol (>40g/d),
• any medications known to interfere with lipid or energy metabolism,
• known physical activity contraindications, or major illness/physical problems (acute or chronic) that may limit their ability to perform the walking activities and
• menopause (defined as no menses in the prior 6 months). The use of birth pill control will be accepted. Women are asked to avoid pregnancy until completion of Condition C.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Uninterrupted sitting; Patient will refrain from any structured activity and reduce any daily life activity. The patient will spend 24 hours in the calorimeter room. During the 24 hours the patient will remain sedentary for the 24 hours but will be able to watch TV, computer work or read.	Behavioral: Uninterrupted sitting; Subjects will be asked to refrain for two days from any structured activity and to reduce any daily life activity (walking, taking the stairs, biking, etc.) in their daily life. On day 3, subjects will remain seated all day in the room calorimeter, except to rise from the chair to void.
Experimental: Sitting + 1 bout of activity; The patient will be asked to perform the 45 minutes of moderate-exercise intervention in the morning once per day for two days in their daily life. This bout of exercise will be supervised by study staff on one of the treadmills On day 3 the patient will report at the Clinical and Translational Research Center (CTRC) of the University Hospital of Colorado and will spend 24hr in the room calorimeter. During the day, you will be asked to sit quietly in a chair, except to rise from the chair to void, and to perform one bout of 45-min moderate-intensity walking on a treadmill.	Behavioral: Sitting + 1 bout of activity; Subjects will be asked to perform 45 minutes of moderate-exercise in the morning once per day for two days in their daily life. On day 3 they will remain seated all day in the room calorimeter, except to rise from the chair to void, and to perform one bout of 45-min moderate-intensity (defined below) walking on a treadmill at 1000.
Experimental: Sitting + microbursts of activity; The patient will be asked to refrain from any structured exercise running, swimming, lifting weights, yoga, dancing, etc.) for two days but to walk for the 5 minute intervention each hour between 1000 and 1800. On day 3, The patient will report at the CTRC of the University Hospital of Colorado and will spend 24hr in the room calorimeter. During the day, the patient will be asked to rise from the seated position every hour for 9 hours from 1000 to 1800 to complete 5 min moderate-intensity walking on a treadmill, which represents a total of 45 min.	Behavioral: Sitting + microbursts of activity; Subjects will be asked to refrain from any structured exercise for two days but to walk for 5 minutes each hour between 1000 and 1800 in daily life. On day 3, subjects will rise from the seated position every hour for 9 hours from 1000 to 1800 to complete 5min moderate-intensity (defined below) walking on a treadmill, which represents a total of 45min.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Total substrate oxidation	Total fat oxidation during the test day will be determined using whole-room indirect calorimetry. O2 consumption and CO2 production will be determined from the flow rates and differences in gas concentrations between air entering and air exiting the calorimeter as previously described	1 day
Postprandial plasma insulin and glucose response	Plasma glucose and insulin will be measured in fasting conditions and hourly during 12hrs following a standard meal consumption. The area under the curve will be calculated for both plasma glucose and insulin. This area will represent the postprandial response to a meal for both insulin and glucose.	1 day
Dietary fat oxidation	Subjects will collect their own hourly breath sampling for 13CO2 by blowing through a straw into two 15ml Vacutainer after the investigators will have shown them the procedure. Breath CO2 will be sampled directly from the Vacutainer with a syringe, and 13CO2 /12CO2 measured with Isotopic Ratio Mass Spectrometer (IRMS).	1 day

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Colorado, Denver

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• De Jong NP, Rynders CA, Goldstrohm DA, Pan Z, Lange AH, Mendez C, Melanson EL, Bessesen DH, Bergouignan A. Effect of frequent interruptions of sedentary time on nutrient metabolism in sedentary overweight male and female adults. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2019 Apr 1;126(4):984-992. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00632.2018. Epub 2019 Jan 10.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 8, 2014
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 1, 2017
• Study Completion (Actual): September 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 2, 2014
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 6, 2014
• First Posted (Estimate): October 7, 2014

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 30, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 29, 2021
• Last Verified: April 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Sedentary Behavior
• Other Study ID Numbers: 14-0429; UL1TR001082 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO