You may want to sit down for this

By now you likely are sick of hearing that sitting is the new smoking. Many companies have jumped on the standing-desk bandwagon. It certainly seems to be a smart way to fight the horrors of sitting disease, but a growing body of research suggests that many of the benefits claimed by standing-desk evangelists are overblown. Simply put, there’s no substitute for good old-fashioned movement.

According to a 2017 survey from the Society for Human Resource Management, standing desks are the fastest-growing benefits trend. About 13 percent of employers provided or subsidized them in 2013; 44 percent did so in 2017, according to U.S. News & World Report.

A 2014 study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that giving people adjustable desks reduced their sedentary time by more than three hours each week.

It’s true that people spend a lot of time sitting, and fighting that is admirable. Whether sitting behind a computer all day at work or loafing around on the couch at home, we seem to be moving less. As housing prices skyrocket in urban areas, many workers are having to move farther out to find more affordable housing, which extends their commutes. In especially pricey areas, such as San Francisco, it’s not uncommon for people to spend three hours or more per day commuting. And that typically means sitting in a car or on the train or bus.

We have less time to move our bodies. But is standing most of the day really giving us a big health boost?

Standing all the time isn’t the answer

The New York Times Upshot column examined some of the health claims of standing desks. Health columnist Aaron E. Carroll pointed out a few misleading studies. Multiple studies have shown that sitting all day is poor for one’s health, but there’s no definitive research that standing counteracts it.

Alan Hedge, a professor in the Department of Design and Environment Analysis at Cornell University, notes: “If what you’re doing is replacing sitting with standing, you’re not actually doing your body any favors. In fact, you’re introducing a whole variety of new risk factors.”

For example, standing too much can compress the spine and lead to lower back problems over time. It can also boost the risk for varicose veins, deep vein thrombo- sis and other cardiovascular problems because the heart has to work against gravity to keep blood flowing up from the toes, Hedge told U.S. News & World Report. A 2017 study in the American Journal of Epidemiology that looked at more than 7,000 people in various professions found that workers who primarily stood had double the risk of heart disease over about a 12-year period than people who mostly sat down.

It’s also true that certain tasks, especially those requiring fine motor skills, are more accurately performed while seated, a blog post in Harvard Health Publishing points out. So, a standing desk may not be an ideal choice for everyone at work.

The calorie-burning myth

But isn’t standing supposed to burn more calories than sitting? Technically yes, but not much.

The Journal of Physical Activity and Health reported that researchers fitted 74 healthy people with masks that measured oxygen consumption as a reflection of how many calories they burned while doing computer work, watching TV, standing or walking on a treadmill.

They found that the use of a standing desk for three hours burns an extra 24 calories, about the same number of calories as a carrot. But walking for just a half hour during your lunch break could burn an extra 100 calories each day, Harvard Health Publishing notes.

Prior reports of the calories burned by standing versus sitting suggested a much higher calorie burn rate for standing, but this new study measured energy expenditure and likely represents a more accurate assessment, Harvard reports.

Walk it out

If you like your standing desk, keep it. Just realize that it is not a substitute for exercise. What matters most is that you get moving and don’t stay in one spot all day long.

A walking break two or three times per work day is a great habit to get into. Take the stairs, walk to the drinking fountain that is farthest from your desk, schedule walking meetings and make a point to get outside at least once a day.

Twenty minutes of walking a day has brainboosting benefits as well, which could lead to a breakthrough at work.

Betsy Mikel is the owner of Aveck, a content consultancy.

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