View clinical trials related to Sedentary.
Filter by:Increasing rates of sedentary living, often complemented by obesity, among large segments of the adult population are associated with costs to individual health and well-being and thereby to society as a whole. Although some workplaces offer physical activity opportunities, those employees who tend to need it the most (i.e., the health needy) are often not attracted. In this project, the investigators propose to develop and evaluate a programme that is targeted to the sedentary health needy employees. The investigators will work with the corporate partner (a large university) to attract such employees through an extensive social marketing driven campaign. A 16-week lunchtime walking programme is proposed in which walking groups are offered followed by support and motivational strategies for longer term independent walking. The investigators will examine the effects of the programme on total amount of walking (including a follow-up assessment 4 months later) and will use innovative technology (Smartphones) to also examine the effect of lunchtime walks on well-being and work performance within and between participants.
Aging is associated with declines in aerobic capacity, exercise tolerance, and functional endurance that lead to physical disability and loss of independence. Furthermore, the existing high prevalence of obesity in the elderly is greatly exacerbating these aging-related declines in function. To date, regular exercise is the only known therapy to consistently improve aerobic function, and perhaps delay the onset of disability. Although aerobic exercise training does benefit both aerobic capacity and endurance even in obese persons, some data show that the maximal efficacy of exercise for improving aerobic function is blunted by obesity. In addition, our preliminary data show a potential dose-response benefit of concomitant fat loss on exercise-induced improvements in aerobic function. Thus, combining an exercise intervention with caloric restriction resulting in fat loss may be more efficacious for improving aerobic function than exercise alone in obese elderly, a population at high risk for disability. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the amount of fat loss (achieved through controlled underfeeding) affects the magnitude of improvement in aerobic function (maximal aerobic capacity and endurance) in response to a standardized exercise training stimulus that follows current recommendations for older persons.
Abdominal obesity, which is affected by a lack of physical activity and excess weight, put people at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. This study will compare the effects of two different dietary approaches to weight loss, each combined with exercise, for their effects on cardiovascular factors that are early predictors of future cardiovascular disease in overweight and obese people with excessive weight around their waist. The two diets are a low-carbohydrate versus a more traditional low-fat, low calorie diet.
H1: The increase in body mass index between baseline and two year follow-up among intervention worksites will be lower than that among control worksites, such that the differential change will be negative on average.