SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE PREVALENCE AMONG WORKERS IN KENYA AGRICULTURAL AND LIVESTOCK RESEARCH ORGANIZATION IN KENYA

Abstract

People who spend too much time being sedentary are more likely to develop musculoskeletal disorders and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs). This health risk is likely to increase with increasing sedentary office setting and lifestyle. In Kenya, the sedentary lifestyle is on the increase while its baseline data has not been documented appropriately. This study investigated sedentary lifestyle prevalence among workers in seven selected institutes within Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO). The study concentrated on a population of 820 office and laboratory workers in seven KALRO institutes located in the Nairobi Metropolitan. The sample size (n= 96), was calculated using Daniel's formula for prevalence studies. A Cross-sectional survey was employed on respondents and questionnaires administered. Waist to height ratio (WHtR) and waist circumference (WC) was measured using a stretch-resistant tape in accordance with WHO, 2008 guidelines. The WHtR (>0.5) revealed that prevalence of overweight and central obesity was high in females, (92.6%) than in males (88%) while (90.38%) was for combined male and female respondents. Factors influencing sedentary lifestyle most of which were outside the workplace setting were: use of motorized transport (73%) which increased with social-economic status; screen time (64.7%); reliance on house help for domestic chores (56.5%) and occupational sedentary (78.4%) with p>0.5 for sitting for office and laboratory workers. None of the sampled institutes had invested in ergonomic chairs, policies or programs for NCDs screening and management. The study concluded that there was a high prevalence of sedentary lifestyle among KALRO employees in the selected institutes.These findings provide a basis for management in KALRO to encourage physical activity among its workers by intervening at individual (reduction of television viewing and overall volume of unbroken sitting time); environmental (introducing active workstation where they live, work); and policy level (allowing regular desk breaks, introduction of standing/walking meetings, guidelines on how long a sitting meeting should last).