Verdict in on whether avoiding sitting helps workers lose weight

Are standing desks really doing us any good?

That question has divided workplaces since sitting started going out of fashion about five years ago. Our sedentary lifestyles were killing us, so standing, the thinking went, was the logical antidote. Sitting too long has been associated with diabetes, hypertension, some forms of cancer, anxiety and a generally greater probability of early death.

“What is the real answer?” asked Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic. “How many calories would someone burn in standing or sitting up?” A new study may provide the most definitive answer to date, at least as far as losing weight is concerned. Standing does, in fact, burn calories, researchers found, just not many: about 54 calories for a six-hour day of standing.

The researchers sifted through the almost 700 studies that have sought to measure the health benefits of standing desks. Of those, 46 were rigorous enough to be included in their review. The studies looked at more than 1,100 standing desk users.

While 54 calories per day don’t amount to much, over a four-year periodabout as long as standing desks have been en voguesomeone could lose 22 pounds, the researchers concluded. The study also found that men tend to burn twice as many calories per minute as women while standing.

Despite the modest effects of standing desks found in the research, Lopez-Jimenez, who studies obesity and cardiovascular disease, still advocates for standing desks at work. Research has found that people with standing desks tend to move more throughout the day, which would result in more burned calories than just standing. And there’s also the issue of back problems associated with long periods of sitting.