Take a seat — standing desks aren’t better for you, says new study

November 10

A recently published study casts serious doubt on the touted health benefits of owning a standing desk. Researchers studying the incidence of major cardiovascular disease (CVD) in 83,013 UK adults found that substituting a few standing hours into a person’s daily desk time didn’t lower CVD risk, and standing for long periods brought along some of its own potential health issues. Specifically, the 6.9-year study (h/t the Washington Post), notes that standing increases the risk of health problems like varicose veins, abnormally low blood pressure, and blood clots.

The scientists behind the new study, Matthew N Ahmadi, Pieter Coenen, Leon Straker, and Emmanuel Stamatakis hint that they began their sizable and wide-ranging study as previous research on the topic of standing desks was scarce and inconclusive. While good research was difficult to come by, product marketers haven’t held back on promoting successive generations of standing desks as healthier, more ergonomic, or even good for you.

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(Image credit: Marsail on Amazon.com)

It seems like common sense that shifting to a completely different pose, while you work at your desk, would be a good thing to do during your day. However, the researchers found that substituting sitting with standing time delivered no worthwhile health benefits in the >83,000 adults monitored.

A discussion in the paper is still useful to those who are concerned about the health impacts of their mandatory desk time, though. Considering only these two stationary alternatives (sitting / standing) is missing something important. The researchers indicate that investing in things like height-adjustable desks might be pointless, as those who are deskbound for long periods simply need to ‘move more.’

The good thing about the ‘move more’ strategy is that it is a free option to anyone, whatever kind of desk they are currently contractually chained to. All a person needs to do, to help counteract the detrimental effects of being at a desk for hours, is to move around a bit every half hour. Walk around the office a little, go up and down some nearby stairs, or even stand up and sit down a few times.

“Standing, by itself, won’t lower the risk” of circulatory and other problems or other conditions associated with sitting for extended periods, Ahmadi said. “It also won’t increase the risk, which is good.” Thus, simply setting a timer to remind you to move about a bit sounds like a much better investment in your health than splurging cash on a standing or adjustable desk.

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