title: Sedentary behavior and food cravings in diverse overweight women: a pilot study.
abstract: Obesity rates have risen sharply in the United States, with minority women among those most affected. Although a majority of Americans are considered inactive, little attention has been devoted to studying the correlation of sedentary behavior with dietary cravings in adults.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The current study used objective and self-report methods to measure sedentary behavior and its relationship to food cravings in a sample of overweight African American and Caucasian women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-nine adult women (54% African American) with an average body mass index of 33.7 wore accelerometers for one week and completed self-report measures of sedentary behavior, physical activity, and food cravings.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Self-reported television viewing time was slightly longer (3.0 versus 2.5 hours), although total sedentary time was shorter (6.7 versus 8.0 hours) on weekends versus weekdays. Weekend but not weekday sedentary time and television viewing were associated with stable aspects of food cravings rather than craving for specific foods.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this small sample, only a third of all sedentary time was attributed to viewing television. Assessing whether sedentary behavior occurs by necessity versus choice may be a factor to consider in examining its relationship to food cravings.
authors.affiliation: Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. grothe.karen@mayo.edu
authors.forename: Karen B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Grothe
authors.forename: Jacinda
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Roach
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Low
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Himes
authors.forename: Jennifer M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Craft
authors.forename: Greg J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Norman
authors.forename: Patricia M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Dubbert
mesh_terms: D061725:Accelerometry; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015444:Exercise; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D050177:Overweight / Q000208:ethnology*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012307:Risk Factors; D057185:Sedentary Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D057566:Self Report; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013690:Television / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data