Deliberate, Planned Exercise, Pure and Simple

"Well-meaning safety professionals and some office furniture manufacturers are pushing sit-stand workstations as a way of improving cardiovascular health."
"But there is no scientific evidence to support this recommendation."
Alternating standing and sitting while using a computer may be useful for some people with low back or neck pain [but people shouldn't be under the illusion that they're getting exercise]."
Dr. David Rempel, professor of medicine, University of California, San Francisco

"... Sitting down at work isn’t strongly linked with long-term health risks. Perhaps that’s because higher status jobs involve more sitting, and higher socioeconomic position is linked with a lower risk of chronic disease."

"It’s a different case for sitting watching TV, the type of sitting most consistently linked with long-term health risks such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and an early death."

"People who watch a lot of TV tend to be of lower socioeconomic status, unemployed, have poorer mental health, eat unhealthy foods and be exposed to unhealthy food advertising."                                                                                                           Emmanuel Stamatakis, associate professor of health, University of Sydney, Australia

The latest science suggests a lack of exercise, not sitting at work, might be the bigger health foe.

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Standing or walking for over six hours daily at work was associated with a doubled or tripled risk of needing surgery for varicose veins -- in turn associated with increased risks of arterial disease and heart failure, according to the results of a longitudinal study of over 38,000 people, published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Yet some countries call out for people to stand more often and cut down on sitting at work in the belief that "sitting is the new smoking".

Standing, however, does not qualify as exercise. On the other hand, many health groups have recommended that people take frequent walking breaks while at work. The concern is that standing rather than sitting while working cannot replace walking breaks. And the belief that standing at the workplace may lead to people construing that doing so negates the need to be active because they haven't been sitting, results in a mistaken belief that can be harmful.

Although it has become trendy to have a sit-stand desk as a preference, it should not be confused with opting to stand equalling exercise. Research suggests that overblown warnings of sitting at work being harmful is itself harmful when it leads to the belief that standing desks are the option toward health improvement at work. A significant association between prolonged sitting over a 24-hour period and increased risk for cardiovascular disease has been found through some studies.

One, dating from 2015 followed over 150,000 older adults for close to seven years and concluded that those who sat at least 12 hours daily experienced significantly higher mortality as compared to their peers who sat for under five hours per day. Another study in the same year followed over 50,000 adults for over three years, finding as well a similar relationship between sitting and higher mortality. However, that second study pointed out the role of context; that the same effect did not pertain with prolonged sitting in specific situations, work included.

It is not sitting itself that may be the culprit; instead it may be a marker for other risk factors where unemployed or poorer people may be more likely to spend large amounts of time sitting at home -- with a higher mortality outcome. There were many studies identifying associations with sitting at work and poor health outcomes but when a systematic review published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine focused on prospective studies which follow groups of people over time to confirm a causal link, they discovered that the evidence to support that link was largely absent.

"[Regular physical activity can] prevent dementia, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, depression, heart disease and other common serious conditions — reducing the risk of each by at least 30%. This is better than many drugs."

"Many studies give an approximate 30% risk reduction in all-cause mortality. Smoking is the biggest contributor to early mortality and years living with chronic illness and disability."

"[Researchers found, overall, regular exercise reduces cardiac death by 31 percent.]"

2015 report on the benefits of exercise from the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges

A longitudinal study found that standing or walking for more than six hours a day at work was associated with a doubled or tripled risk of needing surgery for varicose veins.  PHOTO: ST FILE