Workplace standing time and the incidence of obesity and type 2 diabetes: a longitudinal study in adults

BMC Public Health

Table 1 Baseline descriptive characteristics of participants across levels of standing time

	Rarely/Never	Half of the time	Most of the time	All the time	P
	(n = 97)	(n = 66)	(n = 57)	(n = 73)	P
Age (years)	37.3 ± 14.7	42.2 ± 13.7	42.6 ± 14.0	35.6 ± 12.2	<0.01
Sex
Men (%)	56	37	37	43
Women (%)	44	63	63	57	0.04
Body mass index (kg/m²)	25.7 ± 5.5	26.3 ± 6.3	25.1 ± 4.5	25.2 ± 5.6	0.61
Waist circumference (cm)	85.0 ± 14.9	84.4 ± 16.8	82.2 ± 12.6	81.9 ± 15.6	0.53
Weight status^a
Normal weight (%)	50	52	58	59
Overweight (%)	35	22	29	26
Obese (%)	15	26	13	15	0.35
Diabetes status^b
Normal (%)	84	76	81	95
IGT (%)	10	20	14	3
Type 2 diabetes (%)	6	4	5	2	0.08
Smoking habits
Nonsmoker (%)	84	87	85	79
Smoker (%)	16	13	15	21	0.64
Total annual family income ($C)	66,848 ± 26,846	54,180 ± 24,886	52,700 ± 21,740	56,323 ± 23,238	<0.01
Energy intake (kcal/day)	2,329 ± 634	2,211 ± 648	2,226 ± 647	2,498 ± 979	0.11
PWC₁₅₀ (kpm/kg)	9.3 ± 2.9	8.9 ± 2.4	8.5 ± 3.6	9.1 ± 3.2	0.68

Values are presented as mean ± SD for continuous variables and percentage (%) for categorical variables. Statistical significance was assessed by analysis of variance with continuous variables and by a chi-squared test with categorical variables. ^aNormal weight (body mass index between 18.5 and 24.9 kg/m²), overweight (body mass index between 25.0 and 29.9 kg/m²) and obese (body mass index ≥30 kg/m²). ^bType 2 diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance were defined according to the American Diabetes Association and the World Health Organization criteria [26,27]. Abbreviations: IGT impaired glucose tolerance; PWC₁₅₀ physical work capacity at a heart rate of 150 bpm.

ISSN: 1471-2458