IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i8p2810-d347629.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Academic Schedule and Day-to-Day Variations in Sedentary Behavior and Physical Activity of University Students

Author

Listed:
  • H. Q. Chim

    (Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, School of Health Professions Education (SHE), Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences (FHML), Maastricht University, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands)

  • Mirjam G. A. oude Egbrink

    (Department of Physiology, SHE, FHML, Maastricht University, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands)

  • Pascal W. M. Van Gerven

    (Department of Educational Development and Research, SHE, FHML, Maastricht University, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands)

  • Renate H. M. de Groot

    (Department of Complex Genetics, School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism (NUTRIM), FHML, Maastricht University, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands
    Faculty of Educational Sciences, Open University of The Netherlands, 6419 AT Heerlen, The Netherlands)

  • Bjorn Winkens

    (Department of Methodology and Statistics, Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), FHML, Maastricht University, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands)

  • Hans H. C. M. Savelberg

    (Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, SHE, NUTRIM, FHML, Maastricht University, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands)

Abstract

Students starting at university tend to adopt unhealthy behaviors. With students expected to sit during classes, their academic schedule may be responsible for their activity patterns. The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship between university students’ academic schedule and day-to-day variations in sedentary behavior (SB) and physical activity (PA). The activity of 317 first-year undergraduate students (mean age 19.6 ± 1.4 years, 69.4% female, 30.0% male, and 0.6% other) was measured with the activPAL3™ triaxial monitor for seven consecutive days. Each class hour was found to be associated with 9.0 additional minutes of SB (95% CI [4.9, 13.1]), 54 additional seconds of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA; 95% CI [12, 96]), and 12.2 min less time in bed (95% CI [−16.6, −7.8]). Active SB ratio (total duration of SB bouts < 30 min divided by total SB duration) decreased by 0.011 per hour of class scheduled for the students (95% CI [−0.016, −0.006]). Light PA (LPA) was not significantly associated with class duration. Students tend to cycle more on days with classes. Seated transportation was not significantly related to whether the students had classes or not. Overall, the academic schedule is associated with SB and PA in students.

Suggested Citation

  • H. Q. Chim & Mirjam G. A. oude Egbrink & Pascal W. M. Van Gerven & Renate H. M. de Groot & Bjorn Winkens & Hans H. C. M. Savelberg, 2020. "Academic Schedule and Day-to-Day Variations in Sedentary Behavior and Physical Activity of University Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-16, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:8:p:2810-:d:347629
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/8/2810/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/8/2810/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anne Loyen & Hidde P van der Ploeg & Adrian Bauman & Johannes Brug & Jeroen Lakerveld, 2016. "European Sitting Championship: Prevalence and Correlates of Self-Reported Sitting Time in the 28 European Union Member States," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(3), pages 1-17, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yingyi Wu & Pascal W. M. Van Gerven & Renate H. M. de Groot & Bert O. Eijnde & Jan Seghers & Bjorn Winkens & Hans H. C. M. Savelberg, 2023. "The Association between Academic Schedule and Physical Activity Behaviors in University Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-10, January.
    2. Rianne H. J. Golsteijn & Hieronymus J. M. Gijselaers & Hans H. C. M. Savelberg & Amika S. Singh & Renate H. M. de Groot, 2021. "Differences in Habitual Physical Activity Behavior between Students from Different Vocational Education Tracks and the Association with Cognitive Performance," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-17, March.
    3. Monika Teuber & Gorden Sudeck, 2021. "Why Do Students Walk or Cycle for Transportation? Perceived Study Environment and Psychological Determinants as Predictors of Active Transportation by University Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-25, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Roger Montenegro Mendoza & Reina Roa & Flavia Fontes & Ilais Moreno Velásquez & Hedley Quintana, 2023. "Physical Inactivity and Sedentary Behaviour among Panamanian Adults: Results from the National Health Survey of Panama (ENSPA) 2019," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(8), pages 1-15, April.
    2. Szczuka, Zofia & Kulis, Ewa & Boberska, Monika & Banik, Anna & Kruk, Magdalena & Keller, Jan & Knoll, Nina & Scholz, Urte & Abraham, Charles & Luszczynska, Aleksandra, 2021. "Can individual, dyadic, or collaborative planning reduce sedentary behavior? A randomized controlled trial," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 287(C).
    3. Anne Loyen & Tien Chey & Lina Engelen & Adrian Bauman & Jeroen Lakerveld & Hidde P van der Ploeg & Johannes Brug & Josephine Y Chau, 2018. "Recent trends in population levels and correlates of occupational and leisure sitting time in full-time employed Australian adults," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(4), pages 1-10, April.
    4. Jason A Bennie & Katrien De Cocker & Jordan J Smith & Glen H Wiesner, 2020. "The epidemiology of muscle-strengthening exercise in Europe: A 28-country comparison including 280,605 adults," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-18, November.
    5. Moreno-Llamas, Antonio & García-Mayor, Jesús & De la Cruz-Sánchez, Ernesto, 2020. "The impact of digital technology development on sitting time across Europe," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    6. Menno Luijkx & Marco Helbich, 2019. "Neighborhood Walkability Is Not Associated with Adults’ Sedentary Behavior in the Residential Setting: Evidence from Breda, The Netherlands," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-12, September.
    7. Lakerveld, Jeroen & Woods, Catherine & Hebestreit, Antje & Brenner, Hermann & Flechtner-Mors, Marion & Harrington, Janas M. & Kamphuis, Carlijn B.M. & Laxy, Michael & Luszczynska, Aleksandra & Mazzocc, 2020. "Advancing the evidence base for public policies impacting on dietary behaviour, physical activity and sedentary behaviour in Europe: The Policy Evaluation Network promoting a multidisciplinary approac," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    8. Charlotte Verdot & Benoît Salanave & Salomé Aubert & Andréa Ramirez Varela & Valérie Deschamps, 2022. "Prevalence of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviors in the French Population: Results and Evolution between Two Cross-Sectional Population-Based Studies, 2006 and 2016," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-14, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:8:p:2810-:d:347629. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.