Research on Sitting

Research Review

Clinical Trials

  • Subjects assigned to a standing desk experienced less symptoms of low back pain
  • Subjects assigned to a standing desk improved their fasting blood glucose, triglycerides, and HDL
    • Healy, G. N., Winkler, E. A., Owen, N., Anuradha, S., & Dunstan, D. W. (2015). Replacing sitting time with standing or stepping: associations with cardio-metabolic risk biomarkers.European heart journal, ehv308.  Retrieved from http://eurheartj.oxfordjournals.org/content/36/39/2643
  • Standing burns significantly more calories than sitting
    • Reiff, C., Marlatt, K., & Dengel, D. R. (2012). Difference in caloric expenditure in sitting versus standing desks.Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 9(7), 1009.  Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22971879
  • Sitting results in reduced cardiovascular function compared to standing
  • Sitting less led to improved blood sugar control
  • Subjects who were instructed to sit less experienced improvements in telomere length
    • Sjögren, P., Fisher, R., Kallings, L., Svenson, U., Roos, G., & Hellénius, M. L. (2014). Stand up for health—avoiding sedentary behaviour might lengthen your telomeres: secondary outcomes from a physical activity RCT in older people.British journal of sports medicine, 48(19), 1407-1409.  Retrieved from http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/48/19/1407.short
  • Students assigned to standing desks experienced a three percent drop in BMI while students in seated desks increased their BMI by two percent over the course of a year
  • Students assigned standing desks pay more attention and learn better than those in seated desks
    • Mehta, R. K., Shortz, A. E., & Benden, M. E. (2015). Standing Up for Learning: A pilot investigation on the neurocognitive benefits of stand-biased school desks.International journal of environmental research and public health, 13(1), 59.  Retrieved from http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/13/1/59/htm
    • Dornhecker, M., Blake, J. J., Benden, M., Zhao, H., & Wendel, M. (2015). The effect of stand-biased desks on academic engagement: An exploratory study.International journal of health promotion and education, 53(5), 271-280.  Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14635240.2015.1029641?journalCode=rhpe20
  • Call center employees with standing desks were 46 percent more productive than employees with seated desks
    • Garrett, G., Benden, M., Mehta, R., Pickens, A., Peres, C., & Zhao, H. (2016). Call Center Productivity Over 6 Months Following a Standing Desk Intervention.IIE Transactions on Occupational Ergonomics and Human Factors, (just-accepted), 00-00.  Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21577323.2016.1183534?journalCode=uehf20

Epidemiology Studies

  • Time spent sitting is positively correlated with risk of mortality
    • Chau, J. Y., Grunseit, A. C., Chey, T., Stamatakis, E., Brown, W. J., Matthews, C. E., … & van der Ploeg, H. P. (2013). Daily sitting time and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis.PLoS One, 8(11), e80000.  Retrieved from http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0080000
    • Stamatakis, E., Chau, J. Y., Pedisic, Z., Bauman, A., Macniven, R., Coombs, N., & Hamer, M. (2013). Are sitting occupations associated with increased all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular disease mortality risk? A pooled analysis of seven British population cohorts.PLoS One, 8(9), e73753.  Retrieved from
    • http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0073753
    • Van der Ploeg, H. P., Chey, T., Korda, R. J., Banks, E., & Bauman, A. (2012). Sitting time and all-cause mortality risk in 222 497 Australian adults.Archives of internal medicine, 172(6), 494-500.  Retrieved from http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1108810</p&gt
    • Katzmarzyk, P. T., Church, T. S., Craig, C. L., & Bouchard, C. (2009). Sitting time and mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.Med Sci Sports Exerc, 41(5), 998-1005.  Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19346988
  • Men who spent five or more hours a day sitting were 34 percent more likely to develop heart failure than men who spent no more than two hours a day sitting
    • Young, D. R., Reynolds, K., Sidell, M., Brar, S., Ghai, N. R., Sternfeld, B., … & Quinn, V. P. (2014). Effects of physical activity and sedentary time on the risk of heart failure.Circulation: Heart Failure, 7(1), 21-27.  Retrieved from http://circheartfailure.ahajournals.org/content/7/1/21.short
  • After adjusting for potential confounders, the researchers found that, compared with women who spent 30 minutes or less of daily sedentary time at their jobs, women who spent 31-180 minutes sitting were 1.53 times more likely to be obese, and women who spent more than 360 minutes sitting were 1.70 times more likely.