Strengths and limitations
obesity
OBESITY, ADIPOSITY
This study investigated sedentary behaviour patterns measured by device in a moderate-sized sample of middle-aged to older adults in Germany. Results add data to the literature on associations between uninterrupted sitting time and adiposity markers. We used short, moderate, and long sedentary bouts as measures of sitting patterns and we addressed WC and BMI as generally acknowledged health risk factors to enable inferring a straightforward public health message. Furthermore, we adjusted our analyses for the composition of accelerometer-based time use to draw conclusions on the benefit of interrupting sedentary time in addition to total sedentary time and physical activity levels.Some limitations of this study should be considered. First, our findings may not be generalizable to the whole general population. Similar to other accelerometer studies, the proportion of non-participants was high and selection bias of highly motivated and physically active individuals is likely. Second, hip-worn accelerometers used in this study assess sedentary time from data indicating a lack of movement (< 100 counts/minute) compared to more movement (≥ 100 counts/minute). As other stationary behaviour such as standing may be captured below this threshold, sitting data might be biased [Despite these limitations, our finding that sedentary bouts of short, moderate, and long length were differently associated with obesity indicators among 460 individuals deserves further research. If the relationships revealed in this study are found in larger samples, other populations, and within prospective longitudinal studies that allow for inferences on causality, recommendations on sedentary behaviour should explicitly address interruptions of prolonged sitting.