BACKGROUND Sedentary behavior is associated with health risks and academic under-achievement in children. Still, children spend a large part of their waking hours sitting at a desk at school. Recent short-term studies demonstrated the potential of sit-to-stand desks to reduce sitting time in primary education. The program of "A Good Beginning" was conceived to assess the long-term effects of sit-to-stand desks on sitting time in primary education, and to examine how sit-to-stand desks versus regular desks relate to academic performance, and measures of executive functioning, health and wellbeing. The present paper describes the design of this group-randomized trial, which started in 2017 and will be completed in 2019. METHODS Children of two grade-three groups (age 8-9) following regular primary education in Leiden, The Netherlands, were recruited. A coin toss determined which group is the experimental group; the other group is the control group. All children in the experimental group received sit-to-stand desks. They are invited and motivated to reduce sedentary time at school, however, it is their own choice to sit or stand. Children in the control group use regular desks. Otherwise, both groups receive regular treatment. Outcomes are assessed at baseline (T0) and at five follow-up sessions (T1-T5) alternately in winter and summer seasons over three academic years. Primary outcome measures are academic performance, and the proportion of sitting time at school, measured with a 3D accelerometer. Secondary outcome measures are a number of measures related to executive functioning (e.g., N-back task for working memory), health (e.g., height and weight for BMI), and wellbeing (e.g., KIDSCREEN-52 for Quality of Life). DISCUSSION A Good Beginning is a two-and-a-half-year research program, which aims to provide a better understanding of the long-term effects of sit-to-stand desks on sedentary time at school and the relation between sitting time reduction and academic performance, executive functioning, health and wellbeing. The findings may serve as useful information for policy making and practical decision making for school and classroom environments. TRIAL REGISTRATION The program of "A Good Beginning" is registered at the Netherlands Trial Register (NTR, https://www.trialregister.nl), number NL6166, registration date 24 November 2016.

中文翻译：

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一个好的开始：一项小组随机试验的研究方案，旨在调查坐立式办公桌对小学教育中学业成绩和久坐时间的影响。


背景技术久坐行为与儿童的健康风险和学业成绩不佳有关。尽管如此，孩子们醒着的大部分时间还是坐在学校的课桌前。最近的短期研究表明，坐立式办公桌有可能减少初等教育中的坐姿时间。 “良好的开端”计划旨在评估坐站式课桌对小学教育坐姿时间的长期影响，并研究坐站式课桌与普通课桌与学业成绩的关系，以及执行功能、健康和福祉的衡量标准。本文描述了这项分组随机试验的设计，该试验于 2017 年开始，将于 2019 年完成。 方法 招募了荷兰莱顿接受正规小学教育的两个三年级儿童（8-9 岁） 。抛硬币决定哪一组是实验组；另一组是对照组。实验组的所有孩子都收到了坐站式书桌。他们被邀请并鼓励减少在学校的久坐时间，但是，坐或站是他们自己的选择。对照组的孩子使用普通书桌。除此之外，两组均接受常规治疗。结果在基线（T0）和三个学年的冬季和夏季交替的五次后续会议（T1-T5）中进行评估。主要结果指标是学习成绩以及在校就坐时间的比例（通过 3D 加速计测量）。次要结果测量是与执行功能（例如，工作记忆的 N-back 任务）、健康（例如，身高和体重的 BMI）和幸福感（例如，生活质量的 KIDSCREEN-52）相关的许多测量。 讨论“良好的开端”是一项为期两年半的研究计划，旨在更好地了解坐站式办公桌对学校久坐时间的长期影响以及久坐时间减少之间的关系以及学业成绩、执行功能、健康和福祉。研究结果可以为学校和课堂环境的政策制定和实际决策提供有用的信息。试用注册 “良好的开端”计划已在荷兰试用注册处（NTR，https://www.Trialregister.nl）注册，编号为 NL6166，注册日期为 2016 年 11 月 24 日。