TIME TO WALK THE TALK

INITIATIVES that encourage desk-based workers to move around during their day, not just stand up, should be introduced to workplaces.

New research finds deskbased workers want to spend more time walking or doing physical activity as part of their work day.

The research, published in the BMC Research Notes journal, finds white-collar employees do not just want options such as stand-up desks to avoid sitting for long periods, but opportunities to also move around more.

Lead author Dr Birgit Sperlich, from German Sport University Cologne, says deskbased workers spend an average 73 per cent of their day sitting down, 10 per cent standing, 12.9 per cent walking and 3.9 per cent doing more physically demanding tasks.

But they want to spend 53.8 per cent of their working day seated, 15.8 per cent standing, 22.8 per cent walking and 7.7 per cent doing physically demanding tasks.

For each eight-hour work day, it equates to spending an extra 46 minutes walking, and an extra 26 minutes standing.

“Our results lend some support to the recommended reduction of sitting time to 50 per cent of the work day, which seems feasible in light of workers’ preferences for sitting, standing and walking that we have identified,” Sperlich says.

“Alternatively, these results may reflect respondents’ awareness of recent guidance about occupational sitting time. Either way, interventions that take into account workers’ personal preferences for sitting, walking and physical activity could help reduce the risk for various negative health outcomes.”

The research also finds the more hours each day that a person spends working, the less time they want to spend sitting down.

Researchers recommend employers include walking or moving as well as standing in their wellbeing programs. Sitting for prolonged periods has been found in other research to be a health risk.