The effect of a pedometer-based physical activity intervention on sitting time

Objective To assess whether the “10,000 Steps Ghent” intervention had any effect on self-reported sitting time. Methods A multi-strategy community-based intervention was implemented in 2005 to promote physical activity (PA) to adults living in Ghent, Belgium. In 2005, 648 randomly selected participants (aged 25 to 75) from the intervention community Ghent and 592 from a comparison community, completed the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and a pedometer log. Of these, 440 intervention participants and 426 comparison participants completed the follow-up measurements in 2006. Results A decrease of 12 min in total daily sitting time was found in the intervention community, compared with an increase of 18 min/day in the comparison community (F = 9.5, p = 0.002). The effect was seen for both weekday (p = 0.044) and weekend day (p < 0.001) sitting times. In the intervention community, total daily sitting time decreased more in the participants who increased their step counts (− 18 min/day; t = 2.5; p = 0.012), than in those who did not (no change; t = 0.8, ns). Conclusions After 1 year of intervention, total, weekday, and weekend day sitting times were reduced in the intervention community, while sitting time increased in the comparison community.