Benefits of standing up at work for your employees

Over the last few years, more and more office environments have begun to introduce sit-stand desks into the workplace. Standing desks enable employees to stand, as well as sit while they are working on a computer. New research published by the British Medical Journal shows that high levels of sedentary behaviour, for example sitting for long periods of time have been linked to an increased risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes including some cancers. The report also states that office workers are one of the most sedentary populations and spend 70-85% of their time at work sitting down. 

A team of researchers based in the UK along with a team of collaborators in Australia decided to investigate the impact of SMART (Stand up more at work) an intervention designed to help reduce standing time in the work environment.

The trial involved 146 office employees that were based in the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, 77 of these employees were randomly assigned to the intervention group and the rest of the 69 employees to the control group for over a 12 month period. The intervention group was given a height adjustable workstation and workers standing time was measured using a device worn on the thigh at the start of the study and then at 3, 6, and 12 months. Mood, performance and health were also recorded you can view the results here.

Denmark standing up 

In 2015 Denmark passed a law that made sit-stand desks a legal requirement and now 80% of workers in Denmark have access to standing desks. Professional advisor Stuart Palma from the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy said “ standing desks have to be considered by employees once again, given the “horrendous” figures linking sitting down to poor health” you can read more here. It has been long established that secondary lifestyles are linked to diabetes and cardiovascular disease the worrying fact is that it has been established that you cannot exercise away the damage!

Benefits of moving more at work

Concerned about your employee’s health and well-being?

If you are concerned about your employee’s health and well-being and would like some further information on sit-stand desks please feel free to get in touch with us and we will be more than happy to help. You can call us direct on 071 914 5257 or drop us a line at [email protected]