Association of Sedentary Behaviour and Cardiometabolic Risk Biomarkers among Chinese Females: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Recent epidemiologic evidence suggests that long-term health consequences are related to habitual sedentary behaviour. Sedentary lifestyles are greatly influenced by increasing technological interaction and involvement among the young adults. Because of the prognostic importance of cardio metabolic risk biomarkers on health and mortality this knowledge could provide an insight into the mechanisms through which sedentary behavior influences cardiovascular disease risk among Chinese females. However, there has been no thorough exploration of the independent contributions of sedentary behaviour to metabolic risk factors among Chinese females and the relative importance of these factors. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the association between sedentary behaviour and anthropometric measures among Chinese females. Method: 210 Chinese females participated in this cross sectional study. Sedentary Behaviour Questionnaire was used to assess their sedentary behaviour and height, weight, waist and hip measurements were made. Multivariate linear regression analyses examined associations of self-reported sedentary behaviour with biomarkers. Results: The highest sedentary behaviour engaged by the participants was doing paperwork or computer work, sitting ranked second and listening to music and the third being sitting reading book or magazine. The least sedentary behaviour that participants engaged was doing artworks or crafts. There was no significant association between sedentary behaviour and anthropometric measurements among Chinese females. Conclusion: The study concluded that sedentary behaviour is not detrimentally associated with waist circumference, BMI and waist-hip ratio among young Chinese females. It is possible that factors not directly accounted for in our analysis could have contributed to the healthy range of cardiometabolic risk biomarkers.