Acceptability of Strategies to Reduce Student Sitting: A Mixed-Methods Study With College Teachers

Background. As school days among adolescents include long periods of prolonged sitting, teachers are key agents to deliver interventions to reduce youth sedentary behavior. To develop an intervention, acceptability and feasibility of alternative strategies should be tested. We aimed to examine teachers’ current use and willingness to use various strategies to decrease student sitting and potential barriers and facilitators of use. Method. Mixed-methods design with college teachers using an online cross-sectional survey (n = 192) and focus group interviews (n = 13). Findings. Although a vast majority (87%) of the teachers found reducing prolonged sitting an important goal, only 47% were actually including practices to reduce sitting in their classroom. 89% of the teachers reported willingness to use at least one of the five alternative strategies presented. Focus groups revealed a discussion emphasis on environmental opportunity and motivation as key to implementation. Teachers also generated additional id...