PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, SEDENTARY BEHAVIOUR AND HEALTH: FROM MEASUREMENTS TO RECOMMENDATIONS

Abstract

The overall aim of this thesis is to promote better health and wellbeing through health-enhancing active lifestyle. Accurate measures of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) can contribute to better understanding of disease prevention and development of health promotion. In contrast to physiological outcomes, there is less evidence on the association between psychological health and PA or SB, much less is known whether the associations are influenced by different domains of PA/SB. Additionally, prolonged sitting is an issue in Singapore, especially among the working population.

To address these population health issues, the specific objectives are to: (i) validate the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire, a domain-specific SB questionnaire and a consumer-level accelerometer-based activity monitors, (ii) examine associations of self-reported domain-specific (work, transport-related, leisure-time), accelerometer-assessed PA/SB and adult’s psychological distress in a population-based study, (iii) conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis on the effectiveness of SB reduction interventions among white-collar workers.