There is no doubt that inactivity is bad for us. Sitting for a long time is consistently associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and death. The obvious reaction to this terrible fate is not to sit—to move. Even a few minutes of exercise may have benefits, proposed research. But in our modern age, sitting too much is unavoidable, especially in the office. This has led to a series of strategies to help us get up, including the rise of standing desks. If you have to be tied to a table, at least you can do it standing, the thinking goes.
However, research on whether standing desks are beneficial is sparse and sometimes inconclusive. Furthermore, prolonged standing may be possible its own risk, and data on work-related sitting are also mixed. While the final verdict on standing desks is still unclear, two studies this year have provided some of the clearest evidence yet on the potential benefits and risks of working on your feet.
Please sit down
For years, studies have shown that standing desks improve test scores cardiovascular and metabolic healthsuch as lipid levels, insulin resistance, and arterial flow-mediated dilation (the ability of arteries to expand in response to increased blood flow). But it’s unclear how significant those improvements will be in preventing adverse health outcomes, such as heart attacks. A 2018 analysis suggested that the benefits may not be significant.
And there are good reasons to be skeptical about standing desks. First, standing—like sitting—is motionless. If lack of movement and exercise is the root cause, then standing still will not be the solution.
However, although sitting and standing can be combined into a single category of “standing still,” some researchers have argued that not all sitting is the same. In a 2018 position paper Published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, two health experts argue that the link between poor health and sitting may stem from the specific populations being examined and “ the special contribution” of “time spent sitting at home, such as ‘the couch’. potato effect.”
Two researchers – professors emeritus David Rempel, formerly of the University of California, San Francisco, and Niklas Krause, formerly of UCLA – pointed to several studies that looked specifically at sitting time. work and poor health, leading to a variety of outcomes. For example, a 2013 analysis No association was found between sitting at work and cardiovascular disease. Although this study showed an association with mortality, this association was only found in women. Also yes a 2015 study of about 36,500 workers in Japan Those were followed for a median of 10 years. That study found no association between mortality and sitting time among salaried workers, professionals and people who work from home. However, there is an association between mortality and sitting among people working in the agriculture, forestry and fishing industries.
However, although some of the specifics are unclear, more recent research continues to show a link between Fully extended sitting—wherever sitting occurs—and leads to poor health, especially cardiovascular disease. This has sparked interest in standing desks in offices, where people don’t always have the luxury of moving around frequently. And this has led researchers to try to answer whether standing desks have any benefits.
