Sitting down all day is killing you A study of more than 220,000 people aged 45 or more has come to a startling conclusion: sitting down all day is killing you. The 45 and Up study compared mortality rates among those who sit for many hours a day and those who spend less time perched on their posterior. The study used “... questionnaire data from 222 497 …
This Guilt-Ridden edict is the latest in a long line that goes back to at least the pilgrim fathers or the beginnings of protestantism, and it seems we can most likely blame it on Donald Rumsfeld. Not content with just warmongering--which you'd reckon ought to be enough for anyone--he's now convinced do-gooders we need to stand at our desks:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_desk
What comes next? Will those who get back pain whilst standing then sue their employers for injury?
Employers ought to opt for the sitting option. Productivity would not only be higher but also there'd be less lawsuits if employees actually drop dead whilst at their desks.
"My client passed away at 55. Being in IT they were required to sit long hours in front of a screen attempting to meet impossible deadlines. The stress of this, and the threats of outsourcing hanging over their head, brought on heart arrhythmia; the only late-night food the company would order was pizza or curry, leading to my client's obesity; and it was the blood clot from sitting for 12 hours straight they finally killed them, robbing their children of a loving parent. We are seeking £10 million in lost pay, compensation for stress/suffering and expenses."
What about a tax break for companies that hire trainers/subsidise gyms or something? Or organise pre-work callisthenics? Although given the condition of some of my colleagues, seeing them mince around in gym-shorts is likely to induce nausea.
Gyms should invest in secure cycle parking facilities for their members. The idea is that members cycle to the gym in the morning, shower there and then walk (the presumably short-ish) distance to the office. Gyms get more money plus opportunity to sell on personal training etc. and we get chance to get fit cycling to work without the joys of finding no wheels/saddle/bike when it comes to going home again.
* We only sit down all day because it is easier than typing when lying down.......
* Coffee/tea mugs remain upright for longer on a desk..
* The boss doesn't feel comfortable in delegating to someone wearing nothing but underwear.
* Clients generally dont accept invitations in bedrooms.
There is a also a statistic somewhere that proves that the more we breath the closer we are to death......
I too saw that program and did an exercise, I did 12 minutes, that will do me for a month.
I did read about a year ago, possibly on Wired about people reorganising their office to stand at their PC so clearly there are a lot of studies going on
Before IT I worked in a factory for 16 years standing up and was reasonably fit. Came into IT and for the last 11 years have sat most of it. These days I can be on my chair from 8:30am until 11:30pm. During this time I hardly walk at all now im unfit as hell.
Guess we have to start moving more during the day.
I'll get my spandex
Get outside for at least 10minutes, no matter what the weather, it'll do you the world of good and help refresh your brain a little as well.
Even if I'm not in the mood for a cig, I'll take a quick lap around the building grounds (note: does depend on the size of the building).
It doesn't sound like much but keeps me sane.
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I'm not sure about whether a guideline can require you to do anything, but H&S law in the UK means that employers have to tolerate staff taking the occasional break away from their desk and if you work in the sort of place where that's even remotely controversial then you owe it to your fellow slaves to make a point of taking the break so that everyone is equally lazy as far as management is concerned.
Didn't El Reg recently highlight the misuse of statistics?
"40% higher than those who spend less time on their behinds. Even those who sit for just eight hours a day have a 15% “better” chance of death"
What's the baseline for those percentages? Is it going from 71 people out of 100 will die to 100 out of 100 will people will die or from 7 out of 10,000,000 will die to 10 out of the same number dying? Is it better to get off your arse and jog in heavy traffic or bungee jump or will the dangers of those outweigh the benefits of being vertical?
Finally, would you rather die comfortably in your seat during an 11 hour flight or climb out into the freezing waters of the North Atlantic?
If you click through to the summary of the study you get this:
"During 621 695 person-years of follow-up (mean follow-up, 2.8 years), 5405 deaths were registered. All-cause mortality hazard ratios were 1.02 (95% CI, 0.95-1.09), 1.15 (1.06-1.25), and 1.40 (1.27-1.55) for 4 to less than 8, 8 to less than 11, and 11 or more h/d of sitting, respectively, compared with less than 4 h/d, adjusting for physical activity and other confounders. The population-attributable fraction for sitting was 6.9%."
There's nothing on the proportions of the population who fall into each of the groups so there's not enough information to give an accurate estimate of actual risk. But the total population had a mortality rate of about 0.87% per year. A 40% increase would be about 1.2%, but the 40% is (as far as I can tell) the ratio above the portion of the population who sit for less than 4 hours a day rather than the entire population so the actual figure will be less than this.
It's not enough to make me leap out of my chair and go for a jog.
What's more risky, sitting on your bum surfing the Internet or doing it on an iPod whilst obliviously walking across busy streets.
Going by my vehicle's many recent close encounters of the iPod kind, I'll take the risk of sitting at my PC.
(At least they'll be able to carry me off to the morgue in one piece instead of being washed off the roadway with a powerful hose.)
As someone who *could* email or phone everyone I have to deal with at work, I make it a principle to get off my arse and go and see people at work - it has multiple benefits, not just health. Some issues are best seen first hand, and some issues need to be dealt with face to face and it is amazing how much better some people feel if they 'see someone' even when I don't sort out their problems - I just wish more of my colleagues would do this.
It's only better to stop and make tea if tea-making is safe. Have you studied the statistics for tea-related mortality (or even just burning yourself on the kettle)? Enquiring minds need to know these things.
If things go on like this, we'll soon be doing nothing but running around (assuming running is proved safe) to find the least-hazardous activity at each point in the day and never achieving anything. Remember that quite a few important break-thoughs in science have required substantial personal risk-taking. Marie Curie and Benjamin Franklin spring immediately to mind.
We all know you don't get anywhere by never taking risks. I think this sort of study is now showing that you can never enjoy yourself without taking risks either.
Years ago a plumber to our offices removed a load of sludge from the botttom of blocked urinal pipes, he claimed it was basically the same stuff that formed kidney stones and that he always saw it in offices were people sat down a lot as not moving around never got the kidneys working properly.
Dont know how true that is, but just from things like general fitness I notice a big difference from a job where you sit all day to one where you are just doing things like walking around a lot between offices.
No which is why it also says I don't know how true that is. Try reading it fully.
As for walking between offices sorry was just being generalistic, I happened to work for some small teams and could never see the point of playing the manager who sits on his arse when I could be helping people shift stuff that needed shifting
Guess I picked the wrong week to quit amphetamines.
Striker..Striker..STRiker..STRiker..SRIKE-HER
I've had a standing desk for just over a month now and I'm really liking it. I've got a high-lift gas chair, you know, like the lab ones, under it too for the occasional perch. It's probably reversed the standing/sitting ratio and I can now sit down in the evening and feel like I've taken the weight off my feet.
I recommend it.
Ok
So Plumber claims gunk that blocks urinal pipes is congealed urea, often found in offices where people sit a lot, and is basically the sort of stuff that forms kidney stones.
Quick google seems to say there is a link between being sedentary and kidney stones.
article you are posting on is about health risks of sitting down.
Maybe plumber did have a better undertsaning of the renal sytem than you after all.
I saw these rather funky electric height adjustable desks you could sit or stand at depending on your mood. Always thought they were a wonderful idea, but then they also had massive amounts of space per person compared to the pitiful conditions we have to work in here in the UK. Oh and a vending machine that dispensed beer. :-) In the office. Honest!
I do get fed up with all these reports that say "doing x means y is 40% more likely to happen", but then give you no clue whatsoever as the likelihood of y happening if you don't do x!
How do I know if I should be worried about a 40% increased risk in something without, knowing what the baseline risk was in the first place?
My company (v. afraid of being sued) gave me a desk I can stand up at (motorized! at who knows what cost!). They also gave me two mains sockets.
The fact I have 4 computers, 2 printers, a sep scanner, serial / usb / parrallel, cat5 mains cables (12+) means raising and lowering the desk is not really an option.
Dave
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