Sitting Time and Metabolic Health in Dutch and Hungarian schoolchildren

Sitting time, or 'sedentary behavior' may have negative health consequences, independent of physical activity; thus, even when one is sufficiently physically active, prolonged or extensive sedentary time may contribute to higher risk for metabolic syndrome, diabetes, overweight and obesity. However, these associations need to be researched in more detail and in more rigorous studies.
The association between objectively assessed sedentary time and metabolic risk factors in childhood has hardly been studied at all. Therefore, we examined the independent relationship between objectively assessed and self-rated sedentary time and indicators of metabolic health in Dutch and Hungarian 10–12 year olds. The research paper reporting on this study, led by Dr. Mai Chin A Paw, was just published in the journal Plos ONE.
Sedentary time was measured using accelerometers and the children self-reported their TV and computer time. Weight, height and waist circumference of the kids were measured and fasting plasma glucose, C-peptide, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides were determined in capillary blood and summed into a metabolic risk score.
Children spent on average 7.6 hours of their daily waking time in sedentary behavior and self-reported 116664 min/day watching TV and 85657 min/day using the computer. Comparing the quartile of kids with highest with the quartile of kids with the lowest objectively assessed sedentary time, we found that the most sedentary kids had higher body weights (BMI) bigger waists and higher C-Peptide levels. The difference in the total, overall metabolic risk score was only borderline significant. When we compared the kid who watched most TV with those who watched least we found that among the TV kids, BMI was significantly higher.
In summary: although BMI and WC were higher in the most sedentary versus the least sedentary children; we found no further consistent evidence that the most sedentary children were at increased metabolic risk.