University of Pittsburgh researchers recruit for study to combat sitting disease, diabetes

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh are working to combat sitting disease by creating a program that focuses first on reducing time spent sedentary and then increasing time spent exercising, according to a news release.

Backed by a $3 million NIH grant, Andrea Kriska, PhD, and colleagues from the Graduate School of Public Health will explore whether sitting less is as important as planned bouts of moderate intensity physical activity in people who are inactive.

“At the beginning, participants are not going to start tracking how much walking and biking they do,” M. Kaye Kramer, DrPH, director of the University of Pittsburgh Diabetes Prevention Support Center, said in the release. “Instead, they’re going to think about how much time they spend sitting, and then start decreasing that time.”

The researchers are developing an alternate version of the Group Lifestyle Balance (GLB) program, developed by faculty at the prevention support center and designed for people who are overweight or inactive and seeking to improve their health.

GLB was modified for use in public health from the lifestyle intervention proven successful in the Diabetes Prevention Program clinical research trial, in which diabetes and cardiovascular disease dropped more for patients with weight loss and more physical activity than with diabetes drugs.

The program includes 22 sessions on healthy lifestyle changes over one year, encouraging people to slowly and safely increase physical activity levels. The primary movement goal will be sitting less.

The researchers aim to enroll more than 300 people older than 50 years from the Pittsburgh region.

To test the program on people most likely to benefit, screenings will be done to ensure risk for diabetes or metabolic syndrome exists.

The investigators will track patients’ weight, waist circumference, blood glucose and fat levels, blood pressure, physical function and quality of life, along with changes in sedentary behavior and physical activity.

“We believe that we’re going to see an increase in overall movement by encouraging people to sit less,” Kriska said in the release. “And that will lead to a whole host of health improvements, from weight loss to decreasing risk factors for diabetes and heart disease.”

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