Sitting slumped at your desk combined with high levels of physical inactivity causes many health-related problems ⎻ mainly obesity and having a higher risk of heart disease. Many office workers have opted for alternative approaches such as the sit-stand alternatives based on the belief that they are healthier. This may not be the case according to a recent Cochrane review which found that the benefits of a variety of interventions intended to reduce sitting at work are very uncertain.
Researchers from Cochrane who reviewed three random studies found that people who used them only reduced their overall sitting time between 30 minutes and two hours on average compared to sitting at a conventional desk. Other interventions aimed at reducing inactivity such as taking a walk during breaks at work didn’t change the length of sitting time at work.
Co-author Jos Verbeek, from the Cochrane Work Review Group, Kuopio, Finland, explained, “It is important that workers who sit at a desk all day take an interest in maintaining and improving their well-being both at work and at home. However, at present, there is not enough high quality evidence available to determine whether spending more time standing at work can repair the harms of a sedentary lifestyle. Standing instead of sitting hardly increases energy expenditure, so we should not expect a sit-stand desk to help in losing weight. It’s important that workers and employers are aware of this, so that they can make more informed decisions.”
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
