Brief Standing Desk Intervention to Reduce Sedentary Behavior at a Physical Activity Conference in 2016

OBJECTIVES: To examine the impact of environmental restructuring on attendees at a physical activity conference when provided with standing tables and given point-of-decision prompts (PODPs; e.g., health messages). METHODS: This randomized controlled trial took place at the Health-Enhancing Physical Activity Europe 2016 conference in Belfast, United Kingdom, September 2016. We randomly allocated 14 oral sessions to either the intervention group (standing tables + PODPs; n = 7) or the control group (PODPs only; n = 7). Conference volunteers discreetly recorded the number of attendees standing and sitting and estimated the number of women and attendees aged 40 years or older. RESULTS: There was a significant difference (P = .04) in the proportion of attendees standing during the intervention (mean = 16.8%; SD = 9.5%) than during control sessions (mean = 6.0%; SD = 5.8%). There was no differential response between gender and age groups in the proportion standing during intervention sessions (P > .05). CONCLUSIONS: Providing standing tables may be a feasible and effective strategy to reduce sitting at physical activity conferences.