Discussion on:

Sitting at your desk could be killing you

I might have difficulty getting my HR to pay attention to the linked fact sheet on Laboratory Safety. Was that the correct link?

I am right there in the high risk group, so this definately applies to me, but I feel a certain peer pressure, that makes me worried that my colleagues will feel I am slacking if I stop working at the computer every twenty minutes. Does anyone else feel that?

The key phrase, repeated frequently in the linked document, is "employers should train workers to..." If they did that then it would be an acceptable practise. The catch is how to get an employer to take notice.

It seems you misunderstand your working environment.
You don't really have to achieve anything as long as you are seen to be working.
Even if you achieve more than your colleagues in less time because of your health breaks the only thing that matters is that you have been seen to be working.

Floating around in a chair causes bone loss and obesity... Oh no wait a moment.

I dont see the purpose of this article if its correct. A study done in 2010 garnered 14 years results that imply sedentary lifestyles cause poor health.

Well if I'd managed to pack 14 years of lounging around into the last 2 I'd probably not be feeling too good either. Or did they just decide to sit on the results for 2 years to see if the project died of natural causes?

Honestly, public health advice is in the toilet. I have OCD and spend up to 16 hours a day in front of a computer. I dont have a car, but I love BurgerKing, KFC and pizzas and eat them regularly. I smoke, a little, but never in the house and I make my own beer so I like a tipple.
I dont have many wrinkles, never had spots either - I'm 45, 5'6" and weigh 9.5 stone and have been this way for over 20 years simply because I walk the mile into town and dont sit still when I do sit.

Its not difficult to treat your body with respect; walk it regularly and dont eat junk. (By this I mean junk eating, theres no such thing as junk food if its eaten as part of a healthy diet) Keep out of the sun as best you can because it will age your skin, and feeling youthful comes from looking youthful.

Best of all, leave that boring desk job and go help people instead.

My Job involves sitting at a desk for around 10 hours a day so to mitigate the health effects i walk to work and back 4 Km each way and spend 30 mins in the Gym at lunchtime.
My colleagues here however have a cigerette break every hour . As a Telecom Engineer I miss the days of climbing on to roof tops and Up towers ,,,that keeps you fit!!

There is no question that walking 8 km per day is VERY good for your health. However, take note that the study shows that sitting for long periods increases mortality rates significantly regardless of the amount of physical activity you get at other times. Standing while doing computer/desk work is the only way around this.

I always thought I could compensate for the structural effects of sitting outside of work because I work out pretty hard and even the very muscles I was sitting on, but I found out that wasn't true when I suddenly started having chronic back pain when I hit about 47 years old. I found out the hard way that though your body can take about anything when you're young, you can't compensate for all that sitting. My chiropractor says to stand and stretch for a minute every thirty, but I think that is naive. Since I got a high desk I don't need to see him at all anymore.

Basically as a non smoker I recognize the comments that there is not much activity going on at the work place. We do have some tools installed monitoring our computer behaviour but reading something doesnt trigger the software to alert you to move. The most excersice I get at the office is whenever there is a fire drill and I have to take the stairs down to go outside.

- people take the elevators a lot which is disabled during a fire drill -

You could develop medical problems that could cost you financely for the rest of your life.

"Women ....... 40% higher all-cause death rate, and men had an approximately 20% higher death rate"

I think you'll find that eventually there is a 100% "All cause Death rate" for all men and women alike..... I think there is some additional data (that adds some sense) missing here and this contradicts the overwhelming evidence that those in white collar employment (typically sitting) have on average a 3.5 year greater lif expectancy that blue collar (typically active) workers. There are far too many extraneous variable involved here to make such a simple deduction.

Many companies have given their employees the benefit of working remotely. With my smart phone in my hand or attached to my body somewhere, I work out during the day five days a week. I never miss a call, txt or email. And if I have a project going on, I plan accordingly (work out really early or after hours). Employers are allowing flex schedules more and more. I hope you can take advantage of that perk, if your company offers it, or if you have the ability to negotiate it.

I mean really?! The report talked about sitting in LEISURE time, not work time. What a horribly misleading title.

Unless it was a TR typo, the study says "sitting for more than six hours during their leisure time"
Leisure time. Not work.
So, elevators, fire drills, activities at the work place, tools monitoring computer behavior, the authors choice of occupation are not related to this study at all.
Seems the author of this article didn't really read what the study says before writing this so I guess it's not surprising that no one else commenting did either.

was when we quit hunting and started farming. Pretty much everything about us has gone downhill from there such as poorer health, more disease, higher mortality, and the list goes on. It was mainly due to less exercise and poorer diet. I was just reading a science journal article about it the other day. For example, our average height dropped 5 inches when we switched to agriculture. Our average life span dropped too. I don't remember how much, but it was significant. I had no idea it was that bad.

In the end it means our bodies are built for moving around, not sitting on our butts. We should all do more of the former and a lot less of the latter. Lighten up on the cheeseburgers too.

and exercising more.

Moving from hunter gatherers to farming and industry didn't make us unhealthier or our life spans would not have doubled when we did that. Today an average person in an industrialized society lives well into their 70's but a hunter gatherer that lived to 30 was rare.

ergonomic directions and used that way. I've seen that small change make a difference to someone's posture and related health issues. But the real big thing is what they do AWAY from the desk and AWAY from work.

I know someone who sits at a desk for close to sixty hours a week working on a computer, when not on holidays. But the rest of the time he's out training for the next triathlon he's entered into. Man, talk about fit, and his wife also works at a desk and trains with him, but she does marathons.

Go to the lunch room frequently to make a cup of coffee or tea. Any by doing this frequently you'll have to get up later to go to the restroom. See, two exercises for the price of one! A little more seriously, I've found a number of benefits by making it a priority to get out for a 20-30 min walk at lunch every day. If your building has stairs and is large enough, go for a 5 minute stroll once in a while.

I built a standing desk two years ago and started using it anytime I was using my computer, which was 80% of the time. After a year I liked it so much I had an Amish carpenter build me a much nicer standup desk. Six months ago I moved to a new job and brought my standup desk with me. I still spend about 75-80% of my time standing at the desk and it really makes a difference in how I feel. Got a few looks and questions initially but now people "get it."

Can someone post a link to the actual study please? This is a good start letting us know there was a study and some of the basic facts but I would like to see more before I go and make recommendations for our people.