Lifestyle analysis of a female group of university workers: Do they reach recommended levels of physical activity?

Maintaining appropriate levels of Physical Activity (PA) and healthy lifestyles produces several health benefits. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommended from 150 minutes to 300 minutes a week of moderate PA to obtain substantial health advantages. To promote well-being and healthy lifestyles, digital technologies play a very important role, since they can give a real-time feedback about the performed activities. In this study, we analyzed the lifestyle of a female group of university workers. We asked 23 healthy women belonging to the community of Politecnico di Torino to wear a device during a typical working day. The device was able to classify the activities performed by the subject in six classes: 'resting' (i.e., sitting and laying), upright standing, walking, ascending stairs, descending stairs and 'other activities' (comprising all the activities not included in the previous classes). We analyzed the time spent on each activity during the day and found that subjects spent, in average, almost one hour on dynamic activities (walking and stair climbing), that is in line with the recommendations. However, subjects did not carry out these activities continuously, but they split them into relatively short intervals whose maximum duration was approximately 10 minutes.