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Background: Large volumes of sitting time have been associated with multiple health risks. To reduce sitting time of office workers working for a Dutch insurance company, the Dynamic Work intervention was developed. The primary objective of this paper is to describe the study protocol of the Dynamic Work study, which aims to evaluate if this multicomponent intervention is (cost-)effective in reducing total sitting time on the short-term (≈3 months) and longer-term (≈12 months) compared to usual practice., Methods/design: This two-arm cluster randomized controlled trial will recruit 250 desk-based office workers working at different locations of an insurance company in the Netherlands. After baseline measurements, departments will be matched in pairs and each pair will be randomly assigned to the control or intervention condition. The multicomponent intervention contains organizational (i.e. face to face session with the head of the department), work environmental (i.e. the introduction of sit-stand desks and cycling workstations), and individual elements (i.e. counselling and activity/sitting tracker with a self-help program booklet). The counselling involves two group intervention sessions and four on-site department consultations with an occupational physiotherapist. Sitting time (primary outcome), upright time and step counts will be assessed objectively using the activPAL activity monitor at baseline, short-term (approximately 3 months) and longer-term (12 months). Other outcomes will include: self-reported lifestyle behaviours, anthropometrics, work-related outcomes (i.e. absenteeism, presenteeism, work performance, work-related stress), health-related outcomes (i.e. vitality, musculoskeletal symptoms, need for recovery, quality of life), and costs from both company and societal perspective. The study will include economic and process evaluations., Discussion: This study will assess the longer-term (cost-) effectiveness of a multicomponent workplace intervention aimed at reducing sitting time in comparison with usual practice. Furthermore, the process evaluation will provide insights in factors associated with successful implementation of this intervention., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03115645 ; Registered 13 April 2017. Retrospectively registered.

Background: The worksite cafeteria is a suitable setting for interventions focusing on changing eating behavior, because a lot of employees visit the worksite cafeteria regularly and a variety of interventions could be implemented there. The aim of this paper is to describe the intervention development and design of the evaluation of an intervention to make the purchase behavior of employees in the worksite cafeteria healthier. The developed intervention called "the worksite cafeteria 2.0" consists of a set of 19 strategies based on theory of nudging and social marketing (marketing mix). The intervention will be evaluated in a real-life setting, that is Dutch worksite cafeterias of different companies and with a number of contract catering organizations.Methods/design: The study is a randomized controlled trial (RCT), with 34 Dutch worksite cafeterias randomly allocated to the 12-week intervention or to the control group. Primary outcomes are sales data of selected products groups like sandwiches, salads, snacks and bread topping. Secondary outcomes are satisfaction of employees with the cafeteria and vitality.Discussion: When executed, the described RCT will provide better knowledge in the effect of the intervention "the worksite cafeteria 2.0" on the purchasing behavior of Dutch employees in worksite cafeterias.Trial Registration: Dutch Trial register: NTR5372 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Counselling on health-related lifestyles is key to the prevention and management of chronic diseases. After comprehensive study of determinants of its delivery in general practice and strategies to improve, we composed a tailored improvement program, which included communication skills training, online patient information, and a clinical protocol for managing depressive symptoms. Our aim was to assess the effectiveness of this program on professional performance and outcomes in cardiovascular patients.Methods: A two-arm cluster randomized trial in 34 general practices involving 34 nurses was conducted. The primary outcome was an aggregated score of a positive score on lifestyle counselling delivered and an appropriate action on depressive symptoms. Secondary outcomes included the various elements of the primary outcome, vascular risk factors (extracted from patient records), and patient-reported lifestyle behaviors. Data were collected from medical records and a written survey among included patients.Results: A sample of 1782 patients with recorded cardiovascular disease or high cardiovascular risk was available at follow-up at 6 months. No impact on the primary outcome was found; lifestyle counselling was recorded in a minority of patients (11.4 % in the intervention group and 10.3 % in the control group). An effect was found on a secondary outcome: patients' physical activity level increased (B 0.18; 95 % CI 0.02-0.35) on a seven-point scale.Conclusions: The tailored improvement program showed no effect on the primary outcome. This challenges the methodology of tailoring. More involvement of the targeted health care professionals might offer ways to develop more effective implementation programs. Physical activity might be the lifestyle issue that can be more easily changed than smoking or dietary habits.Trial Registration: Nederlands Trial register NTR4069. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Overweight youngsters are better in absolute strength exercises than their normal-weight counterparts; a physiological phenomenon with promising psychological impact. In this paper we describe the study protocol of the Dutch, school-based program 'Focus on Strength' that aims to improve body composition of 11-13 year old students, and with that to ultimately improve their quality of life.Methods: The development of this intervention is based on the Intervention Mapping (IM) protocol, which starts from a needs assessment, uses theory and empirical research to develop a detailed intervention plan, and anticipates program implementation and evaluation. This novel intervention targets first year students in preparatory secondary vocational education (11-13 years of age). Teachers are the program implementers. One part of the intervention involves a 30 % increase of strength exercises in the physical education lessons. The other part is based on Motivational Interviewing, promoting autonomous motivation of students to become more physically active outside school. Performance and change objectives are described for both teachers and students. The effectiveness of the intervention will be tested in a Randomized Controlled Trial in 9 Dutch high schools.Discussion: Intervention Mapping is a useful framework for program planning a school-based program to improve body composition and motivation to exercise in 11-13 year old adolescents by a "Focus on Strength".Trial Registration: NTR5676 , registered 8 February 2016 (retrospectively registered). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]