Presentation
In-Class Stretching Breaks to Augment College Student’s Comfort and Reduce Mental Workload
SessionPoster Session 1
DescriptionCollege students spend an average of 63% of their school time in sedentary positions, with those in highly demanding majors like medicine spending at least 7.29 hours a day. Prolonged sitting is associated with adverse health outcomes, a growing concern in the education sector due to the continuous increase in academic and leisure activities performed in sedentary positions. Although stretching breaks have been shown to effectively mitigate the effects of prolonged sitting in non-academic settings, their efficacy in academic environments remains underexplored. Moreover, there is no consensus on how and when to take such breaks. This pilot study examined the effectiveness of a 1.5 min stretching break at 40 min in reducing perceived discomfort and mental workload during 80 min sedentary computer typing task. Participants were college students randomly divided into stretching and control groups. Perceived discomfort and mental workload were measured using Borg’s CR-10 and NASA-TLX scales, respectively. Results showed that participants in stretching group reported lower discomfort and mental workload levels, suggesting the potential effectiveness of stretching breaks in interrupting prolonged sitting. This preliminary evidence offers the possibility of incorporating stretching breaks intervention to create a more comfortable and mentally supportive learning environment in colleges and universities.
Event Type
Poster
TimeTuesday, October 14th5:30pm - 6:30pm CDT
LocationRiverside East