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ABSTRACT
Background: Sedentarism is uniquely associated with numerous health problems (e.g., obesity). School-age youth spend a considerable portion of their time being sedentary, although relatively little attention has been given to examining youth sedentary time or behaviors during school.
Purpose: This systematic review and meta-analysis examined sedentarism (time, behaviors) in children and adolescents during school hours. Methods: Two separate electronic-databases searches were conducted. The first focused on sedentary time and looked for studies that: (1) were conducted in the U.S., (2) targeted the K-12 setting during school-day hours, (3) were an intervention, (4) included objective measures, and (5) reported sedentary outcomes as a time-based metric. The second search focused on sedentary behavior and looked for studies that: (1) were conducted in the U.S., (2) targeted the K-12 setting during school-day hours, and (3) included reporting of sedentary behaviors. A pooled estimate of percent-time spent sedentary was calculated. Results: On average, youth spent 63% of their time in school sedentary. There were no studies that met the inclusion criteria for the sedentary behavior portion of the review. Discussion: The limited number of studies found that report sedentary-time, coupled with the absence of studies describing sedentary behaviors, suggests that further descriptive research is needed to understand school-based sedentarism in youth. Translation to Health Education Practice: Professional development for school staff and intervention work should encompass sedentary time and behaviors across the school day.
Acknowledgment
There are no acknowledgments the authors wish to make.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.