NCT03587233

Are Women With Higher Professional Status More Sedentary Compared to Men?

Physical Activity Level and Gender-differences of Adults in Different Professional Status

• Status: Unknown
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 200 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Istinye University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 35 Years – 70 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

It is aimed to understand the gender differences on factors affecting the resting metabolic rate of people in different professional status. The relation between daily and weekly walking and sitting time, body mass index (kg/m2), Ponderal Index (kg/cm), waist-to-hip ratio of the participants will be searched. In this context, the demographic data (age, gender, neck and waist circumference (cm), occupation, education level) of the participants will be gathered with a questionnaire, specifically prepared for this study. The body composition analyses and International Physical Activity Level Questionnaire (IPAQ), Healthy Eating Index (HEI) will also be used to understand their body composition, physical activity level and eating habits, respectively. The data will be compared to understand the effects of education level and type of occupation on their physical activity level, as well as, the effects of trainings on adapting healthy behaviour of the participants as physical activity, healthy eating habits in relation to gender and professional status.

Detailed description

Being overweight and obese are becoming serious health care problems in developed countries as well as in Turkey. Both are associated with severe health problems as increased risk of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, respiratory and renal problems, and certain types of cancer. The behavioral and environmental factors (i.e. sedentary lifestyles combined with excess energy intake, unhealthy diet, low level of education and poverty) are primarily responsible for the dramatic increase of obesity. In Turkey, the prevalence of obesity has increased by 65% among men and 30% among women during the 90's. According to the recent findings of The National Household Research the incidence of being overweight was 31.35% and obese was 12.2% among those above 18 years. This was 28.93% and 14.59% in females and 33.64% and 9.70% in males, respectively. It was also reported that the incidence of being overweight had a tendency to increase linearly by age: 2.53% between 18-24 years, 7.96% between 25 - 34 years, 15.57% between 35-44 years, 22.61% between 45-54 years, 22.55% between years 55 - 64 years. This increase in obesity with aging may not be only due to the decrease in the fat-free mass but also due to an impaired ability to regulate the energy balance with age. Therefore, the age-related decline in basal metabolic rate, which is also related to the reduction in fat-free mass may alter the energy balance and contribute to weight gain. Thus, physical activity is essential for obese subjects in order to maintain or to increase their basal metabolic rate as well as their daily energy expenditure to enhance their weight loss. Therefore, regular physical exercise may be considered as an effective tool to increase the resting metabolic rate by improving the muscle mass. However, the modern life, equipped with technological support, has eventually decreased the amount of daily physical activities in household tasks, transportation or in work environments. As Kirk and Rhodes stated the positions of higher professional status are more likely to engage in sedentary work-related behavior (i.e. sitting) compared to those working in positions of lower professional status (i.e. manual labor). Additionally, male were more likely to be employed in blue-collar or high-manual-labor positions that require high physical activity compared to women. The women mostly prefer non-occupational and non-leisure activities; for instance house-work. It is also reported that low level physical activity habit is higher among people having office work and living in the cities in Turkey. Therefore, we have aimed to evaluate the physical activity level, physical status and the eating habits of the people in higher or lower professional statuses, and observe the gender differences.

Conditions

• Professional Role
• Physical Activity
• Obesity
• Education
• Body Composition

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Physical assessment	Besides the demographic features of the participants, the interventions on physical assessment will be performed including weight in kilogram and height in meter; and weight and height will be combined to report body mass index in kg/m2. The waist circumference will be measured to understand the central fattening from costal margins or above umbilicus in cm. If it is measured above 95cm for men and 80cm for women is considered as higher than normal; if higher than 110cm for men and 88cm for women is considered as having risks for obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases etc. Hand and pinch grip power will be assessed. It the elbow is in extension upper extremity power, and if it is flexed at 90 degree and forearm is supported on the table handgrip power is to assess.
DEVICE	Analyses of body composition	The analyzes of body composition will be measured with bioelectrical impedance analysis method by a body composition analyzer.
BEHAVIORAL	physical activity level assessment	The physical activity level will be assessed through the intervention titled with the Turkish version of the 'International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form'. It consists of seven questions searching for the amount of walking and low, moderate and high intensity physical activities as total time in minutes per day and frequency in days per week. Sitting, as a sedentary behavior, will be evaluated separately. The scores will be achieved by the multiplication of the minutes, days and metabolic equivalent time values in a week, and over the last 7 days. Walking score and total weekly walking duration will be calculated as medium and vigorous; the physical activity level will be classified as low, moderate and high level activity.

Timeline

• Start date: 2020-10-07
• Primary completion: 2022-05-25
• Completion: 2022-10-25
• First posted: 2018-07-16
• Last updated: 2022-05-18

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Turkey (Türkiye)