Associations Between Television Time and activPAL-Measured Duration and Pattern of Sedentary Time Among Pregnant Women at Risk of Gestational Diabetes in the UK

Abstract

Background: Television (TV) time is associated with poor cardiometabolic health outcomes. This finding is commonly attributed to duration of sitting or patterns of sitting associated with high TV time, but there is very little evidence on this link. Methods: Pregnant women (n = 167) at risk of gestational diabetes wore an activPAL accelerometer and self-reported their usual TV time in the second trimester. Generalized linear mixed models were used to compare objectively measured total sedentary time (ST), prolonged ST (bouts ≥30 min), and breaks in ST for all hours and evening hours (6 PM–11 PM) between those with high (≥2 h/d) and low TV time. Results: Over all waking hours, those with high TV time had fewer breaks in ST than those with low TV time, exp (b) 0.92; 95% confidence interval, 0.86 to 0.998; there were no differences in total ST or prolonged ST between the 2 groups. Those with high TV time had significantly higher evening ST (b = 9.9; 95% confidence interval, 0.5 to 19.2); there were no differences in prolonged ST or breaks in ST during evening hours. Conclusions: These findings suggest that high TV time may be associated with higher evening ST and fewer breaks in ST. The link between TV time and sitting patterns requires further investigation.