Researchers are to explore whether TV and video games are making children more idle as Edinburgh plays host to a major conference on sedentary behaviour.

 

The event is also expected to ask whether attempts to cut falls among elderly people are putting their health at risk by encouraging them to spend too much time sitting down.

The meeting of the the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity being held at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre reflects increasing concern about the amount of time people of all ages are spent in 'non-exercise', either sitting or lying down.

Delegates will discuss all the aspects of modern society which conspire to keep people seated, from children whose lives are spent in front of screens, to care homes which may want to keep older people sitting so they are easier to manage or to prevent falls, and offices which encourage people to work long hours at computers without the breaks they are entitled to.

Epidemiologists, psychologists, doctors, and social scientists are among those who will gather in the city in June to discuss the multiple factors that determine sedentary behaviour from childhood to old age.

Experts say reducing sedentary behaviour is becoming a major international public health challenge but we don't currently know enough about what is causing it or what might help.

A satellite meeting is also being held at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU).  The GCU event is part of a European project - Determinants of Diet and Physical Activity, a multidisciplinary consortium of scientists from 46 research centres in 12 countries across Europe.

Dr Sebastien Chastin, Senior Research Fellow at GCU's school of physiotherapy, said: "The workshop at GCU will be a landmark that will guide international research."

GCU already takes a leading role in researching sedentary behaviour. Professor Dawn Skelton and Dr Chastin lead a number of research projects including a landmark study called 'Seniors USP', led by GCU, which will develop techniques to help older people get out their chairs, improving their physical and mental health.

Researchers from GCU, Northumbria University, Newcastle University and the University of Manchester have also teamed up to establish whether exercise programmes which help prevent falls in older people can be adapted to help visually impaired people.

Funded with a £463,000 grant from the National Institute for Health Research's Heath Technology Assessment, the researchers will work with a group of older people who are visually impaired and health and exercise professionals to adapt the programme and agree on ways of measuring how well it works, including measuring confidence, number of falls, fear of falling and general health, for those with sight loss.