Adult sedentary time by gender, age and educational level –a Swedish population study

Background

Sedentary behaviour is a well-established risk factor for several chronic diseases and mortality. Whether there are gender or age differences in the association between educational level and sitting time remains unclear. We studied the prevalence of sitting at least 10 hours/day by gender, age and educational level in a population sample of adults in Mid-Sweden.

Methods

The study is based on 15 220 men and women aged 25-64 years answering a survey questionnaire sent to a random population sample in 2022. To examine associations between educational level and sitting time logistic regression analyses were conducted by gender, adjusting for age group and physical activity.

Results

The prevalence of sitting at least 10 hours/day was higher in men (20.1%) than in women (16.3%) and more common among younger than older age groups (p < 0.05). The highest prevalence, about 40%, was seen among highly educated young men (aged 25-34 years). Among young women, the prevalence was highest, about 25%, both among those with high and low educational levels. The logistic regression analyses, adjusted for age group and physical activity, confirmed that high education was strongly associated with sedentary behaviour, especially among men. For women and men alike, the differences between low and middle educational levels were not statistically significant.

Conclusions

The high prevalence of prolonged sitting among highly educated adults, especially in young men, constitutes an emerging public health concern.

Key messages

• High education was strongly associated with sitting at least 10 hours/day, especially among young men.

• This finding indicates a gender and age-related socioeconomic paradox which constitutes an emerging public health concern.