Association Between Employment Status and Objectively Measured Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior: The Maastricht Study

Abstract

<p>Objective: To examine the association between employment status and physical activity and sedentary<br />behavior.Methods:We included 2045 participants from The Maastricht Study, who used a thigh-worn<br />accelerometer. We compared time spent sedentary, standing, stepping and higher intensity physical<br />activity between participants with different employment status (non-employed or low-, intermediate- or<br />high-level occupation) with ANOVA.</p><p>Results: Participantsinlow-level occupationswere less sedentary<br />and standing and stepping morethan those in other occupational categoriesand nonemployedparticipants.<br />Among the employed, the differenceswere mostly observed on weekdays,<br />whereas the differences in sedentary time and standing between those in low-level occupations and<br />non-employed participants were evident both on weekdays and weekend days.Conclusions:Those in<br />low-level occupational category were less sedentary and more active than non-employed and those in<br />other occupational categories, especially on weekdays.<br /></p>