To sit or stand
Welcome to part two in our series of blogs on the health benefits and risks of inactivity in the office.
In last weeks blog we discussed some research carried out by sciencedaily.com. In a typical working week, people will on average spend five hours and forty-one minutes per day seated at their desk and an additional seven hours sleeping at night. There was much research carried out and the key findings included –
(1) That nearly 70% of employees surveyed didn’t meet the recommended guidelines for physical activity
(2) Fifty percent of people that were surveyed (50 years and under) who sit for long periods of time at work were more likely to sit at home also
(3) There was a direct correlation between BMI scores and time spent sitting at work
(4) Also, the study found that there was a link between sitting and mental health. The longer you spend sitting there will be a decrease in your mental wellbeing.
According to James Levine of the Mayo Clinic
“The way we live now is to sit all day, occasionally punctuated by a walk from the parking lot to the office,” he recently said during a phone interview, speaking as he strolled around his living room. “The default has become to sit. We need the default to be standing.”
Unfortunately, the solution is not one hour of exercise after a whole day of sitting. The best way to counteract the negative effects of sitting is to stand up! By incorporating periods of standing, walking and really any other forms of activity this can really help to wean of those negative effects!
So far scientists have found a number of benefits to been active in the office these include and wil be discussed in next weeks blog
– Reduced risk of obesity
– Reduced risk of type II diabetes
– Reduced risk of cardiovascular disease
– Reduced risk of cancer
