Effect of Frequent Interruptions of Prolonged Sitting on Self-perceived Levels of Energy, Mood, Food Cravings and Cognitive Function

This study is designed to test the effects of six 5 minute microbursts of physical activity spread across the day as compared to either a sedentary control condition or a single 30 minute bout of moderate intensity physical activity on cognitive function, self-reported energy levels, aspects of eating behavior and measures of metabolic health. The primary hypotheses are:

1. Hourly 5 minute bouts of moderate intensity exercise during the day will increase afternoon cognitive function as compared to a no exercise condition.
2. Hourly 5 minute bouts of moderate intensity exercise during the day will increase afternoon cognitive function more than a single 30 minute AM bout.

Secondary exploratory hypotheses include

1. Hourly 5 minute bouts of moderate intensity exercise during the day will increase self-reported energy levels, reduce orexigenic appetitive measures and improve measures of metabolic health as compared to a no exercise condition.
2. Hourly 5 minute bouts of moderate intensity exercise during the day will increase self-reported energy levels, reduce orexigenic appetitive measures and improve measures of metabolic health more than a single 30 minute AM bout.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Cognitive Function; Mood; Energy; Food Cravings
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: physical activity

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 30
• Phase: Not Applicable

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:

1. All ethnic groups and both genders
2. Age: Lower age limit: 19 years; Upper age limit: 45 years
3. Body-mass Index: Lower BMI limit: 18.5 kg/m2; Upper BMI limit: 29.9 kg/m2
4. Willing to adhere to caffeine restrictions of no more than two 16 ounce beverages in the morning of each study day with no caffeine intake after 12:00pm on any of the three study days

Exclusion Criteria:

1. History of cardiovascular disease, including coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, & unstable angina, or uncontrolled hypertension (>140/90 mm Hg)
2. Currently smoking or stopped smoking in the last 6 months
3. Medications affecting weight, energy intake, or energy expenditure in the last 6 months
4. Use of oral steroids
5. History of stroke or seizures, thyroid disease, type 1 or 2 diabetes, Cushing's syndrome, cerebrovascular, renal disease, hepatic disease, arrhythmias
6. Cancer requiring treatment in the past 5 years, with the exception of skin cancers other than melanoma
7. Infectious diseases: Self-reported HIV positivity or active tuberculosis
8. Inability to exercise for more than 30 minutes on a treadmill at moderate intensity
9. Currently pregnant, lactating or less than 6 months post-partum
10. History of a major psychiatric disorder including schizophrenia, bipolar illness or psychotic depression
11. Score of >25 on Beck Depression Inventory
12. No recreational drug use including marijuana in the past 1 year

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: PREVENTION
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: CROSSOVER
• Masking: SINGLE

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
NO_INTERVENTION: Uninterrupted sitting; Subjects remained seated all day except to rise from the chair to void.
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: Sitting + one bout of activity; Subjects remained seated all day, except to rise from the chair to void, and to perform one bout of 30-minutes moderate-intensity walking. Physical activity was performed at 0800, after measures of vitals and basal questionnaire assessments, but before breakfast.	Behavioral: physical activity
EXPERIMENTAL: Sitting + microbursts of activity; Subjects rose from the seated position every hour for 6-hours from 0910 to 1430 to complete 5-minute bouts of moderate-intensity walking, yielding a total activity time of 30-minutes.	Behavioral: physical activity

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Energy and Mood level	Self-perceived energy and mood were measured by using visual analogue scales (VAS) as described below at baseline.	During each of the three separate study days energy and mood levels are assessed at (in minutes): T0, T40, T70, T80, T90, T120, T140, T230, T350, T390, T400, T405, T410, and T435
Change in Cognitive function	The flanker task is used to measure cognitive function	During each of the three separate study days cognitive function is measured at (in minutes): T410
Change in Cognitive Function	After the Flanker task, the Comprehensive Trail Making Test is used to measure cognitive function during each study day.	During each of the three separate study days cognitive function is measured at (in minutes): T425

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Colorado, Denver
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: James Hill, University of Colorado, Denver

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Bergouignan A, Legget KT, De Jong N, Kealey E, Nikolovski J, Groppel JL, Jordan C, O'Day R, Hill JO, Bessesen DH. Effect of frequent interruptions of prolonged sitting on self-perceived levels of energy, mood, food cravings and cognitive function. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2016 Nov 3;13(1):113. doi: 10.1186/s12966-016-0437-z.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: November 1, 2013
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): May 1, 2014
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): May 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 22, 2016
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 17, 2016
• First Posted (ESTIMATE): March 23, 2016

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE): March 23, 2016
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 17, 2016
• Last Verified: March 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Physical Activity; Micro bouts
• Other Study ID Numbers: 13-2777

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: This clinical trial is a small study (n=30) that received limited funding from Johnson and Johnson Company, a non-public funding company. Our data sharing plan will follow the NIH guidelines for data sharing plans of small clinical trials and not unique set of data that could benefit the community (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/data_sharing/data_sharing_faqs.htm#901). Following the NIH definition of "the timely release and sharing" to be no later than the acceptance for publication of the main findings from the final data set, final research data will be shared through scientific publications after peer-review.