Cross-Sectional Associations between Home Environmental Factors and Domain-Specific Sedentary Behaviors in Adults: The Moderating Role of Socio-Demographic Variables and BMI

Despite the negative health effects of too much sitting, the majority of adults are too sedentary. To develop effective interventions, insight is needed into home environmental correlates of adults' sedentary behaviors, and into the susceptibility of population subgroups to these home environmental cues. In total, 559 Flemish adults reported socio-demographics, weight and height, home environmental factors and domain-specific sedentary behaviors. Generalized linear modeling was conducted to examine main associations between home environmental factors and domain-specific sedentary behaviors, and to test the moderating role of socio-demographics and BMI on these associations. In case of significant interactions, stratified analyses were performed. Results showed that, among those who did use a computer/laptop during the last week, a one-unit increase in the number of computers or laptops was associated with 17% (OR = 1.17; 95% CI = 1.02, 1.34) and 24% (OR = 1.24; 95% CI = 1.08, 1.43) more minutes computer time per day, respectively. The proximity of the remote controller (p < 0.001) and the number of televisions (p = 0.03) were positively associated with television time, and the number of motorized vehicles (95% CI = 0.001, 0.12) was positively associated with the odds of participation in transport-related sitting time. The latter two associations were moderated by BMI, with significant positive associations limited to those not overweight. To conclude, home environmental factors were associated with domain-specific sedentary behaviors, especially in healthy weight adults. If confirmed by longitudinal studies, public health professionals should encourage adults to limit the number of indoor entertainment devices and motorized vehicles.