title: European Sitting Championship: Prevalence and Correlates of Self-Reported Sitting Time in the 28 European Union Member States.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Sedentary behaviour is increasingly recognized as an important health risk, but comparable data across Europe are scarce. The objective of this study was to explore the prevalence and correlates of self-reported sitting time in adults across and within the 28 European Union Member States.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study reports data from the Special Eurobarometer 412. In 2013, 27,919 randomly selected Europeans (approximately 1000 per Member State) were interviewed face-to-face. Sitting time on a usual day was self-reported and dichotomised into sitting less- and more than 7.5 hours per day. Uni- and multivariate odds ratios of sitting more than 7.5 hours per day were assessed by country and socio-demographic variables using binary logistic regression analyses. The analyses were stratified by country to study the socio-demographic correlates of sitting time within the different countries.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 26,617 respondents were included in the analyses. Median sitting time was five hours per day. Across Europe, 18.5 percent of the respondents reported to sit more than 7.5 hours per day, with substantial variation between countries (ranging from 8.9 to 32.1 percent). In general, northern European countries reported more sitting than countries in the south of Europe. 'Current occupation' and 'age when stopped education' were found to be the strongest correlates of sitting time, both across Europe and within most Member States. Compared to manual workers, the odds ratio of sitting more than 7.5 hours per day was 5.00 for people with white collar occupations, 3.84 for students, and 3.65 for managers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is substantial variation in self-reported sitting time among European adults across countries as well as socio-demographic groups. While regular surveillance of (objectively measured) sedentary behaviour is needed, the results of this study provide entry points for developing targeted interventions aimed at highly sedentary populations, such as people with sedentary occupations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, VU University Medical Center, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Loyen
authors.affiliation: Department of Public and Occupational Health, VU University Medical Center, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.|Prevention Research Collaboration, School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Hidde P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: van der Ploeg
authors.affiliation: Prevention Research Collaboration, School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bauman
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, VU University Medical Center, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brug
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, VU University Medical Center, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jeroen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lakerveld
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005062:European Union; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009790:Occupations; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D057566:Self Report; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult