The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced a number of new behaviours into daily routines, like physical distancing, mask-wearing and hand sanitizing. Meanwhile, many old behaviours such as attending events, eating out and seeing friends have been put on hold.
However, one old behaviour that has persisted, and has arguably been amplified due to COVID-19, is sitting and it is not surprising to see why. Whether sitting during transportation, work, screen time or even meals, everyday environments and activities are tailored nearly exclusively to prolonged sitting. As such, sedentary behaviours, like sitting, make up the vast majority of our waking day.
Health vs. well-being
Abstract
Sedentary behaviour (SB) is considered a risk factor for non-communicable diseases and long periods of sedentary time (ST) have been associated with an increased risk of mortality in adult populations. Although investigation in young children (aged 1 to 5.9) is less consistent, this period has been identified as a critical period in which sedentary habits may be established and track throughout life. The aim of this Doctoral thesis was to investigate the prevalence, correlates and measurements of SB in toddlers (aged 1 to 2.9 years) and pre-schoolers (aged 3 to 5.9 years). This thesis is divided into several chapters. Chapter I states the significance, aims and research questions of the thesis. Chapter II is a review of the evidence on SB that is presented based on the Behavioural Epidemiology Framework aiming at i) establishing the links between SB and health; ii) describing the methods for measuring SB; iii) identifying the factors that influence SB; (iv) evaluating inter