Trial reportBMC public health2015
Energy expenditure during common sitting and standing tasks: examining the 1.5 MET definition of sedentary behaviour.
Trial report in BMC public health, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 91 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
91 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Can exercise snacks alleviate musculoskeletal discomfort in prolonged sitting? A systematic review of randomized controlled trials.BMC public health · 2026Pooled it
- Acute effects of exercise snacks on postprandial glucose and insulin metabolism in adults with obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Can Physical Activity Support Grief Outcomes in Individuals Who Have Been Bereaved? A Systematic Review.Sports medicine - open · 2021Pooled it
- Effects of Interrupting Prolonged Sitting with Physical Activity Breaks on Blood Glucose, Insulin and Triacylglycerol Measures: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2020Pooled it
- Workplace interventions for reducing sitting at work.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- Workplace interventions for reducing sitting at work.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- Screen Time, Other Sedentary Behaviours, and Obesity Risk in Adults: A Review of Reviews.Current obesity reports · 2017Pooled it
- Sedentary behaviour and adiposity in youth: a systematic review of reviews and analysis of causality.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2017Pooled it
- Workplace interventions for reducing sitting at work.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016Pooled it
- Trial
- A Cluster-Randomised Crossover Pilot Feasibility Study of a Multicomponent Intervention to Reduce Occupational Sedentary Behaviour in Professional Male Employees.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Trial
- A single arm trial using passive simulated jogging for blunting acute hyperglycemia.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Complexity of Daily Physical Activity Is More Sensitive Than Conventional Metrics to Assess Functional Change in Younger Older Adults.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2018Trial
- Contemporary concepts in 'exercise as medicine' and related fields.Experimental physiology · 2026Article
- Sedentary time during pregnancy and fetal malpresentation in the Japan Environment and Children's Study.Communications medicine · 2026Article
- The small-cage induced sedentariness in male young rats: evidence from energy expenditure and glucose uptake.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Neighborhood walkability and sedentary behaviors among US adults.Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2026Article
- Acute Effects of Exercise Snacks on Glucose and Lipid Metabolic Outcomes in Individuals with Metabolic Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy · 2026Review
- Manual therapy combined with core muscle training for chronic non-specific low back pain in sedentary individuals: a study protocol for a single-center randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
31 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSedentary behavior is defined as any waking behavior characterized by an energy expenditure of 1.5 METS or less while in a sitting or reclining posture. This study examines this definition by assessing the energy cost (METs) of common sitting, standing and walking tasks.
methodsFifty one adults spent 10 min during each activity in a variety of sitting tasks (watching TV, Playing on the Wii, Playing on the PlayStation Portable (PSP) and typing) and non-sedentary tasks (standing still, walking at 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0, 1.2, 1.4, and 1.6 mph). Activities were completed on the same day in a random order following an assessment of resting metabolic rate (RMR). A portable gas analyzer was used to measure oxygen uptake, and data were converted to units of energy expenditure (METs).
resultsAverage of standardized MET values for screen-based sitting tasks were: 1.33 (SD: 0.24) METS (TV), 1.41 (SD: 0.28) (PSP), and 1.45 (SD: 0.32) (Typing). The more active, yet still seated, games on the Wii yielded an average of 2.06 (SD: 0.5) METS. Standing still yielded an average of 1.59 (SD: 0.37) METs. Walking MET values increased incrementally with speed from 2.17 to 2.99 (SD: 0.5 - 0.69) METs.
conclusionsThe suggested 1.5 MET threshold for sedentary behaviors seems reasonable however some sitting based activities may be classified as non-sedentary. The effect of this on the definition of sedentary behavior and associations with metabolic health needs further investigation.
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