Medical and Physiological Benefits of Reduced Sitting

Medical and Physiological Benefits and Mechanisms of Reduced Sitting Without Meeting the Current Physical Activity Recommendations

The most important objective of this randomized controlled trial in subjects with increased cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors is to investigate whether only reduced daily sitting improves human cardiovascular and metabolic health during a six-month intervention. It is hypothesized and expected that only reduced sitting, without formal physical activity or exercise training, affects favorably cardiovascular and metabolic health.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Physically inactive (less than 120 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week measured by the activity monitor during run-in)
• Sitting time ≥ 10 h /day (measured by the activity monitor during run-in)
• BMI 25-40
• Blood pressure < 160/100 mmHg
• Fasting plasma glucose < 7.0 mmol/l
• Fulfills the criteria of the metabolic syndrome according to Alberti et al 2009

Exclusion Criteria:

• History of a cardiac event
• Insulin or medically treated diabetes
• Any chronic disease or condition that could create a hazard to the subject safety, endanger the study procedures or interfere with the interpretation of study results
• Presence of ferromagnetic objects that would make MR imaging contraindicated
• Abundant use of alcohol
• Use of narcotics
• Smoking of tobacco or consuming snuff tobacco
• Diagnosed depressive or bipolar disorder
• Previous PET imaging or considerable exposure to radiation