Stand Up For Your Health
In a world of rising desk work and overweight population, standing up at work may be just what is needed to help reset the trend of unhealthiness.
Even when people exercise regularly, the average person still manages to sit for at least 11 hours a day. The change in workplace habits over the years has reached an extreme, as almost all work is completed sitting down at a desk on a computer all day instead of standing and walking around to complete work-related tasks. This change in the workplace is ultimately a change in lifestyle for many people as the calories that they once burned in the workplace have been replaced by sedentary behavior in the workplace and at home. This prolonged sitting puts more people at risk for diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity and some forms of cancer, and ultimately increases healthcare costs and insurance premiums for those affected.
Researchers at the University of Ontario utilized a six-week method similar to that used in smoking cessation and seatbelt compliance cases, to try and improve workplace compliance for an increase in standing and not sitting. The students involved in the study chose strategies (setting timers and reminders to stand) and met with researchers three weeks into the study to ensure they were complying. After six weeks the students had turned the strategies into habits, getting up every hour instead of every 90 minutes, while their control group counterparts showed no improvement. The researchers found that the best workplace strategies also included making more frequent trips to the water fountain/cooler instead of longer ones, standing during computer work or phone calls, and walking to an employees cubicle to talk about an issue instead of emailing them.
Researchers at the University of Ontario utilized a six-week method similar to that used in smoking cessation and seatbelt compliance cases, to try and improve workplace compliance for an increase in standing and not sitting. The students involved in the study chose strategies (setting timers and reminders to stand) and met with researchers three weeks into the study to ensure they were complying. After six weeks the students had turned the strategies into habits, getting up every hour instead of every 90 minutes, while their control group counterparts showed no improvement. The researchers found that the best workplace strategies also included making more frequent trips to the water fountain/cooler instead of longer ones, standing during computer work or phone calls, and walking to an employees cubicle to talk about an issue instead of emailing them.
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