European Sitting Championship: Prevalence and Correlates of Self-Reported Sitting Time in the 28 European Union Member States

Objective
Sedentary behaviour is increasingly recognized as an important health risk, but comparable data across Europe are scarce. The objective of this study was to explore the prevalence and correlates of self-reported sitting time in adults across and within the 28 European Union Member States.
Methods
This study reports data from the Special Eurobarometer 412. In 2013, 27,919 randomly selected Europeans (approximately 1000 per Member State) were interviewed face-to-face. Sitting time on a usual day was self-reported and dichotomised into sitting less- and more than 7.5 hours per day. Uni- and multivariate odds ratios of sitting more than 7.5 hours per day were assessed by country and socio-demographic variables using binary logistic regression analyses. The analyses were stratified by country to study the socio-demographic correlates of sitting time within the different countries.
Results
A total of 26,617 respondents were included in the analyses. Median sitting time was five hours per day. Across Europe, 18.5 percent of the respondents reported to sit more than 7.5 hours per day, with substantial variation between countries (ranging from 8.9 to 32.1 percent). In general, northern European countries reported more sitting than countries in the south of Europe. ‘Current occupation’ and ‘age when stopped education’ were found to be the strongest correlates of sitting time, both across Europe and within most Member States. Compared to manual workers, the odds ratio of sitting more than 7.5 hours per day was 5.00 for people with white collar occupations, 3.84 for students, and 3.65 for managers.
Conclusions
There is substantial variation in self-reported sitting time among European adults across countries as well as socio-demographic groups. While regular surveillance of (objectively measured) sedentary behaviour is needed, the results of this study provide entry points for developing targeted interventions aimed at highly sedentary populations, such as people with sedentary occupations.

### 研究目的
久坐行为作为一项重要的健康风险因素已日益受到学界认可，但欧洲地区的可比数据仍较为匮乏。本研究旨在探究欧盟28个成员国及其内部成年人自我报告的每日久坐时长的流行特征及其相关影响因素。

### 研究方法
本研究的数据源自第412号专项欧洲晴雨表（Special Eurobarometer 412）调查。2013年，研究人员通过面对面访谈的方式，对27919名随机选取的欧洲成年人开展调研，每个欧盟成员国约纳入1000名受访者。研究将受访者自我报告的日常久坐时长进行二分类，划分为每日久坐少于7.5小时与多于7.5小时两组。采用二元逻辑回归分析，按国家及社会人口学变量评估每日久坐超过7.5小时的单变量与多变量优势比，并按国家分层分析不同成员国内部久坐时长的社会人口学相关影响因素。

### 研究结果
本研究最终纳入26617名受访者进行分析。受访者的每日久坐时长中位数为5小时。全欧洲范围内，共有18.5%的受访者报告每日久坐时长超过7.5小时，且各国间存在显著差异，占比范围为8.9%至32.1%。总体而言，北欧国家的久坐时长高于南欧国家。无论是全欧洲范围还是多数成员国内部，当前职业与停止教育的年龄均为与久坐时长关联最强的因素。与体力劳动者相比，白领职业人群每日久坐超过7.5小时的优势比为5.00，学生为3.84，管理者为3.65。

### 研究结论
欧洲成年人的自我报告久坐时长在不同国家及不同社会人口学群体中均存在显著差异。尽管仍需开展针对久坐行为的客观测量常态化监测，但本研究结果可为针对高久坐风险人群（如久坐职业从业者）制定针对性干预措施提供参考依据。