Is Sitting the New Smoking? Are Standing Desks the Answer?

The majority of us sit at a desk all day long. Before we sit at that desk, we sit in the car on the way to work. Then we sit on the way home from work and then we sit after work until we go to bed at night. I would guess that some of you are actually sitting in excess of 12 hours per day. Many of you may have heard about the new big thing in office furniture - standing desks, some of you may already have one. But are they worthy of all the hype? Are there other options available?

Before we take a look at the benefits of standing desks, let's look at how sitting for the majority of your day impacts your health.

Low Energy Expenditure

Because you aren't moving your body when you're sitting down, the amount of energy you need to expend during the day decreases. This leads to putting on weight and an increase in the risk of obesity 

Slow Metabolism

When you're sitting, your body is not expending as much energy and therefore it slows the clearance of fat from the bloodstream and blunts the effect of insulin. 

Poor Posture

Prolonged sitting leads to spine and back injuries, as well as chronic pain. Sitting for long periods wreaks havoc on our posture as muscles that should be relaxed become tight and those that should be tight become relaxed. This affects us when we want to move our bodies because the muscles are compromised and the risk of injury goes up. Sitting in the same position also leads to chronic pain that can affect a person's day-to-day life. 

Reduced Social Skills 

It is important for us as humans to have face-to-face interactions. When we are at our desks for long periods of time and reduced to communication via email it affects us emotionally by leading to loneliness and depression. 

Diabetes 

As mentioned above, prolonged sitting contributes to insulin sensitivity decreasing. Over time this is linked to developing type 2 diabetes. 

Cancer

Lack of movement has been linked with an increase in developing cancer. 

Risk for Heart Disease 

Prolonged sitting can increase your risk for heart disease upt o 64%! 

Mortality 

All of the above risks increase your mortality. Prolonged sitting actually increases your risk of dying by 6.4% and this is across all genders, age groups, weight, health and activity levels.

Is Sitting the New Smoking? 

The detrimental effects of sitting for long periods are pretty extensive and severe. Dr. James Levine coined the term 'sitting is the new smoking' and went as far to say that "Sitting is more dangerous than smoking, kills more people than HIV and is more treacherous than parachuting. We are sitting ourselves to death." So with all this being said, are standing desks the answer? 

Are Standing Desks the Answer? 

The research says yes. Those people who stand and move more than their sitting counterparts are less likely to be obese, have a reduced risk of diabetes and other metabolic syndromes, have a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, have a reduced risk of cancer, and a lower long-term mortality risk. So just by standing more at work you are able to decrease your chances of a whole host of scary diseases. But, what if I work out everyday? Is it ok to sit all day then? Well, no. If you sit for the majority of your day it doesn't matter if you run every morning or go to the gym every evening, you will still be at risk for all the things listed above.

Other Alternatives 

So does this mean that you should run out and buy yourself a standing desk? Not necessarily. Standing desks are by far the easiest way to not sit for the majority of your day, but they are not the only way. You can set a timer at your work station and make sure you get up and move every 45-60 minutes, you can schedule walk meetings that will actually get you outside and into nature (these are extra beneficial), or you can go and talk to your colleague about your project instead of emailing them. The ways to keep moving are as limitless as your imagination. But, if all else fails then the standing desk is the way to go! 

Written by Dr. Liz Walker of www.primalpracticemt.com