Estimating energy expenditure in sedentary physical activity using an accelerometer

Overweight and obesity are becoming a major health problem for society. To
investigate the importance of low intensity daily physical activity in the
development of overweight an appropriate measurement system is required. A
piezo-capacitive accelerometer is probably suited, but has not been
investigated for this purpose before. Additionally, it is not clear whether
sedentary physical activity in a respiration chamber is representative for
physical activity in daily life.

To assess the validity of a piezo-capacitive accelerometer to predict energy
expenditure related to sedentary physical activity. Secondary objective: To
compare physical activity as performed in an respiration chamber with physical
activity as performed in daily life.

Model development, validation of the model, validation of the validation
(double validation study). The subject will be measured at the university and
in daily life. The first part of the measurement at the university contains
standardized physical activities lasting for one hour. The standardized
activities are lying, sitting, standing and slow walking on a treadmill (< 5
km/h). The second part of the measurement at the university contains a stay in
a respiration chamber for 24 hours. During the measurement in daily life the
subject is expected to fill in a short (one minute) questionnaire every day. In
the rest of the time the subject is not restricted to any physical activity. In
all measurements the subjects wears a belt around the waist. In the measurement
in daily life, the band can be taken off during the night

No substantial risks are involved, because of the low intensity of the
activities and the easy tasks. The subject visits the university ones. If
practically possible the measurement in daily life will start at the end of
this visit, if this is not the case an additional appointment will be made.