Older people who watch more than two hours of television per day are invited to participate in a UQ research study.
Paul Gardiner, a PhD candidate from UQ’s Cancer Prevention Research Centre, has designed a simple program that encourages older people to be more active.
“Research from our centre has shown that sitting for long periods of time is linked to weight gain, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes,” Mr Gardiner said.
“In consultation with older adults, I have developed a program called 'Stand Up For Your Health' which aims to reduce the amount of time people spend sitting each day.
“This is an easy to follow program and some of the changes are as small as standing up during advertisement breaks while watching television.
“This is the first time this has been attempted anywhere in the world with older age groups and there is considerable interest from researchers around the world to see how it works.”
Participants can complete the program in the comfort of their own home and are required to wear a small device on their hip for two weeks, have two blood samples taken, be visited three times by researchers and receive two follow-up phone calls.
Applicants must be aged 60 years or more, watch television for two hours or more per day, not be in paid employment and live on Brisbane’s Southside.
For more information, please contact Mr Gardiner on 3365 5163, 0401 802 534 or p.gardiner@uq.edu.au
Media: Penny Robinson at UQ Communications (07 3365 9723, penny.robinson@uq.edu.au)
