Background
The continued decrease in physical activity in the workplace is behind a growing epidemic of chronic diseases such as metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular diseases, certain cancers [1, 2] and links are also being made with mental-health issues such as stress, anxiety and depression[3].
However workplace physical activity poses challenges concerning equipment, space, levels of exertion and motivation. A new approach was therefore conceived based on enjoyment and cognitive challenge with a view to induce short bouts of regular activity by providing daily two-minute videos demonstrating a new dance step to be learnt.
Indeed, we now know that short bursts of physical activity can have significant effects on health, (reducing postprandial glucose and insulin responses by 40% in overweight individuals[4]) and simply breaking up sitting time makes a difference to health in unfit individuals[5, 6]. This study investigated whether learning a daily dance move could induce enough physical activity to affect well-being.