What works to sit less and move more at work?
With growing warnings that “sitting is the new smoking,” many workplaces have introduced standing desks, handed out pedometers, and organized “Health Challenge Months.” But here’s the real question: Are these efforts actually working? A recent umbrella review published in The Lancet Public Health (Rouyard et al., 2025) offers a comprehensive look at how workplace interventions affect sedentary behaviour and physical activity. Drawing from 36 systematic reviews and 214 original studies, the findings are both eye-opening and instructive. What is an Umbrella Review? An umbrella review is a “review of reviews.” It summarises evidence from multiple systematic reviews on a broad topic to offer high-level insights. Think of it as a meta-summary—ideal for identifying trends, strengths, and gaps in a body of evidence. The Challenge: We’re Still Sitting Too Much—And It’s Hard to Get Moving Despite good intentions, global physical activity levels are stagnating or declining—especially in desk-based jobs. In fact, data shows that office workers spend about 72.5% of their workday sitting. While standing desks can cut down sitting time by 67–75 minutes per day, they don’t significantly boost moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA)—the type that really benefits heart and metabolic health. So, in many cases, we’re just swapping “sitting still”…
