title: The evaluation of the impact of a stand-biased desk on energy expenditure and physical activity for elementary school students.
abstract: Due to the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity, the association between classroom furniture and energy expenditure as well as physical activity was examined using a standing-desk intervention in three central-Texas elementary schools. Of the 480 students in the 24 classrooms randomly assigned to either a seated or stand-biased desk equipped classroom, 374 agreed to participate in a week-long data collection during the fall and spring semesters. Each participant's data was collected using Sensewear® armbands and was comprised of measures of energy expenditure (EE) and step count. A hierarchical linear mixed effects model showed that children in seated desk classrooms had significantly lower (EE) and fewer steps during the standardized lecture time than children in stand-biased classrooms after adjusting for grade, race, and gender. The use of a standing desk showed a significant higher mean energy expenditure by 0.16 kcal/min (p < 0.0001) in the fall semester, and a higher EE by 0.08 kcal/min (p = 0.0092) in the spring semester.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, 1266 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843, USA. mbenden@sph.tamhsc.edu.
authors.forename: Mark E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Benden
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, 1266 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843, USA. zhao@sph.tamhsc.edu.
authors.forename: Hongwei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, 1266 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843, USA. christinajeffrey@rocketmail.com.
authors.forename: Christina E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Jeffrey
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, 1266 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843, USA. mlwendel@tamhsc.edu.
authors.forename: Monica L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Wendel
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational Psychology, Texas A&M University, 4225 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843, USA. jjblake@tamu.edu.
authors.forename: Jamilia J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Blake
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007374:Interior Design and Furnishings / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000592:standards*; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D012574:Schools; D013334:Students; D013781:Texas