The Effect of Standing Desks in Secondary Schools on Sedentary Behavior and Cognitive Performance in Flemish Adolescents

Detailed Summary

Sitting or sedentary behavior is associated with several adverse health outcomes such as overweight and obesity, diabetes type 2,... independent of physical activity levels. This evidence is clear in adults, however also in adolescents the health effects can become apparent (e.g. development of overweight, reduced fitness,...). Therefore it is important to develop interventions aiming to reduce sedentary behavior in adolescents. Adolescents are sedentary for more than 60% of the day, of wich a large part is spent at school as during school hours pupils usually have to sit at their desk. Therefore secondary schools serve as an ideal setting to target sitting behavior. Structural environmental changes (in the classroom), e.g. introducing standing desks, can be used as a possible strategy. It is important to objectively evaluate the effect of the intervention on sedentary behavior. Next to evaluating the effect on behavior, studies also recommend to evaluate the effect on cognitive performance, as this is the particular interest of schools and their staff. The primary aim of this project is therefore to investigate the effect of implementing standing desks on adolescents' cognitive function, more specifically on memory, reasoning, verbal ability and concentration. In addition, the investigators will evaluate the effect of implementing standing desks on adolescents' sitting and standing time, measured by Axivity accelerometers in the entire sample. Finally, the investigators will also collect information about sleeping behavior to investigate the association with cognitive performance. This will be tested via a controlled trial with a pre- and post-test design including an intervention and control group. Based on previous research studies, the hypothesis is that adolescents from the intervention group will improve their cognitive function and standing time and reduce their sitting time, whereas no changes are expected to be found for adolescents from the control group. Finally, it is expected that a more healthy sleeping behavior is associated with better cognitive performance.

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