Sedentary behaviors, leisure-time physical inactivity, and chronic diseases in Brazilian workers: a cross sectional study

Background: Our purpose was to examine the association of television viewing (hours/day), sedentary work (predominantly sitting at work), passive transportation to work (car or motorcycle), and the clustering of these behaviors ("sedentary lifestyle"), as well as leisure-time physical inactivity (LTPI), with chronic diseases (hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and clustering of chronic diseases) in Brazilian workers. Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted from 2006 to 2008 in 24 Brazilian federal units (n = 47,477). A questionnaire was applied. Descriptive statistics, binary and multinomial logistic regressions were used. Results: Magnitude of association with chronic diseases varied greatly across domains and gender. Sedentariness at work was the most consistent behavior associated with chronic diseases, especially in men (OR hypertension = 1.10, 95% CI: 1.01-1.20; OR hypercholesterolemia = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.21-1.48; OR obesity = 1.27, 95% CI: 1.15-1.41; OR1 chronic disease = 1.17, 95% CI: 1.09-1.26; OR ≥ 2 chronic diseases = 1.61, 95% CI: 1.46-1.78) compared with women (OR hypercholesterolemia = 1.15, 95% CI: 1.01-1.31; OR obesity = 1.24, 95% CI: 1.04-1.48). LTPI was associated with all diseases in men (except type 2 diabetes), but only with obesity in women. Conclusion: Adverse health consequences may be differently associated according to behavior domain and gender. Sedentary work and LTPI were consistently associated with chronic disease in Brazilian workers, especially in men.