Stair Design in the United States and Obesity: The Need for a Change:

Active Design: Architectural Interventions for Improving Occupational Health Through Reducing Sedentary Behavior - A Systematic Review

OBJECTIVES

To systematically review architects' literature concerning stair promoting design interventions for reducing sedentary behavior and improving occupational health.

DATA SOURCES

English language, manuscripts published between 2000 and 2022 in Google scholar, Science Direct, PubMed, CINAHL, and ERIC.

STUDY INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION CRITERIA

The criteria for inclusion in this review include; Presence of two words from the searching term in the title, a study conducted by an architect (or at least one architect author), English language, published after 2000, investigate built environment and design features that influence stair use in the building.

DATA EXTRACTION

The data extraction process included; Author (year), country, study design, type of buildings, the population of the study, duration of the study, measured variables (dependent and independent), measurement tool, analysis and outcomes.

DATA SYNTHESIS

Extracted data were synthesized in a tabular format and analytical figures with narratives summary.

RESULT

Nine features of the built environment that affect stair use determined from the literature; safety, motivations, appeal and comfort, and legibility were the most common features in the studies, followed by connectivity, building codes, and elevator programming. The good quality of mentioned features positively affects stair use level and vice versa. However, the review also reports a shortage of architects in both practice and research concerning active stair design.

CONCLUSION

Stair use is of great importance in increasing physical activity and improving occupational health in the workplace. Architects and designers should pay special attention to the design of staircases and encourage their everyday use by considering the largest number of features that encourage stair use.

Awareness of food nutritive value and eating practices among Nigerian bank workers: Implications for nutritional counseling and education

Adequate nutrition is an important aspect of a healthy lifestyle for all individuals, including bank staff. The objective of this study was to investigate the awareness of food nutritive value and eating practices among bank workers in Lagos State, Nigeria.The study adopted a cross-sectional descriptive survey design. A purposive sample of 250 bank workers took part in the study. Means and Student t tests were employed for data analysis.Results showed that bank workers were aware of the nutritive value of foods, and that eating practices commonly adopted included skipping breakfast, eating breakfast at work, buying food at work from the bank canteen, eating in between meals, buying snacks as lunch, and consuming soft drinks daily, among others. There were no significant differences between male and female bank workers in mean responses on food nutritive value or in eating practices adopted.Good eating habits will help bank workers not only to improve their nutritional well-being, but also to prevent nutrition-related diseases. The implications for nutritional counseling and education are discussed in the context of these findings.

Cognitive decline and the default American lifestyle

OBJECTIVES

Upward trends in IQ, education, and mental work suggest that cognitive function among seniors should be rising strongly across cohorts. There is little sign of such improvement in recent decades, and some analyses find poorer function in the newer cohorts. This essay explores possible explanations of the anomaly.

METHODS

Major long-term trends that might increase cognitive impairment are reviewed, and their implications are considered.

RESULTS

Physical activity is declining, food is increasingly manufactured, body fat is increasing, diabetes and metabolic syndrome are on the rise, the number of prescription drugs per person is increasing, and the proportion of the population either old or obese is growing.

DISCUSSION

Technological and economic development may lower the cognitive function needed for survival. They also lower physical activity in daily life. Sedentary work, transportation, and leisure undermine the aerobic and metabolic fitness required for the brain to perform well. Some prescription drugs impair cognitive function, and others do so when taken for many years or in combination with others. The growing fraction of the population that is either old or obese may further lower physical activity norms and requirements and substitute medical intervention for health, accelerating a trend toward cognitive impairment.

Worksite physical activity interventions and obesity: a review of European studies (the HOPE project)

OBJECTIVE

Our aim was to review the effectiveness of physical activity promotion interventions in the worksite setting in Europe in order to identify those studies that had measured obesity-related outcomes and to evaluate how external validity of the findings had been assessed.

METHODS

We conducted a review of studies conducted in Europe, published up to December 2009. We assessed levels of evidence regarding effectiveness and analysed external validity using the RE-AIM framework.

RESULTS

Studies included (n = 33) were divided in 6 intervention categories. Moderate evidence of effectiveness was found for physical fitness outcomes with exercise training interventions and for physical activity outcomes with active commuting interventions. There was no or inconclusive evidence for obesity-related outcomes for all intervention categories. For external validity, elements receiving the least attention (<20%) were representativeness of participants, setting-level inclusion/exclusion criteria and representativeness, characteristics regarding intervention staff, implementation of intervention, costs, long-term effects and programme sustainability.

CONCLUSIONS

Active commuting and exercise training appear as promising approaches to promote physical activity or fitness in the workplace. The effect of interventions on obesity-related outcomes remains to be further investigated. There is a need to better report elements of generalizability and dissemination for translation into practice of worksite physical activity interventions.

Sedentary work, low physical job demand, and obesity in US workers

BACKGROUND

Little is known about the role of low physical activity at work (sedentary work or low physical job demand) in the increasing prevalence of obesity of US workers.

METHODS

This cross-sectional and secondary data analysis included 1,001 male and 1,018 female workers (age range: 32-69) from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) II study (2004-2006). Sedentary work and physical job demand were measured by questionnaire items. Total obesity (based on body mass index) and central obesity (based on waist circumference) were defined using WHO criteria.

RESULTS

After controlling for covariates (socio-demographic, psychosocial working conditions, health status, and health behaviors), sedentary work, low physical job demand, or their combination increased the risk for total and central obesity in male workers, particularly when they worked longer than 40 hr per week. Sedentary work marginally increased the risk for total and central obesity in female workers.

CONCLUSIONS

Low physical activity at work is a significant risk factor for total and central obesity in middle-aged US male workers.