Oct. 17, 2024 – People who use a standing desk for health benefits may need to re-evaluate their time spent with it.
New research suggests that using a standing desk doesn’t reduce the chance of problems like heart disease or strokes, and may even boost the risk of circulatory problems, such as varicose veins or deep vein thrombosis. Ultimately, time spent stationary and not moving was linked to increased health problems.
The findings were published Wednesday in the International Journal of Epidemiology. For the study, researchers didn’t specifically evaluate people who used standing desks. Instead, they analyzed data from 83,013 adults who used a wearable device that could detect their daily time spent sitting and standing for a week. The average age of the people in the study was 61 years old, and about 55% were women.
The researchers then looked at the people’s health data for the next seven years and linked time spent sitting, standing, or both to how likely someone was to have heart disease, a stroke, heart failure, or circulatory problems like a potentially deadly blood clot in the leg or enlarged and twisted veins that can be uncomfortable.
On average, people in the study spent nearly 13 hours per day stationary, meaning sitting or standing combined. About 2 hours were spent standing, and 11 hours spent sitting.
People whose combined sitting and standing time exceeded 12 hours per day had an increased risk of circulatory problems, and that risk increased for every extra hour spent stationary. When the researchers looked at just time spent sitting or time spent standing, circulatory health risk steadily increased beyond two hours of standing or 10 hours of sitting.
Extra time spent sitting beyond 10 hours daily also was linked to an increased risk of problems with the heart and blood vessels. But the next finding from the researchers suggests that just getting out of a chair and standing more may not be the solution. Time spent standing was linked to neither poor nor improved heart and blood vessel health, but it was linked to increased circulatory problems.
“The key takeaway is that standing for too long will not offset an otherwise sedentary lifestyle and could be risky for some people in terms of circulatory health,” said lead author Matthew Ahmadi, PhD, who specializes in wearables research at the University of Sydney in Australia, according to a news release.
A 2017 report, by a different team of University of Sydney researchers, suggested that the broad adoption of standing desks was fueled by media reports that failed to note the limited evidence for the desks’ health benefits. The report pointed to a widely – but not comprehensively – covered recommendation in a medical journal to increase standing and light activity time in the office. The report also expressed concern that the recommendation was co-authored by someone with commercial links to sit-stand desks.
The authors of this latest study suggest that rather than focusing on standing more, people may instead aim to include more movement throughout their day and plan structured exercise time to manage risks to their heart and blood vessels.
“Take regular breaks, walk around, go for a walking meeting, use the stairs, take regular breaks when driving long distances, or use that lunch hour to get away from the desk and do some movement,” said researcher Emmanuel Stamatakis, PhD, MSc, a University of Sydney professor of physical activity and population health.
