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The Health Risks of Prolonged Occupational Sitting and the Benefits of Physical Activity

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The 2020 World Health Organisation guidelines on physical activity highlighted the importance of reducing sedentary behaviour due to its negative health effects. However, the specific impact of prolonged sitting at work, particularly in the context of varying levels of physical activity, has not been fully explored. A recent prospective cohort study in Taiwan, published earlier this year in JAMA Network Open sheds light on this issue, focusing on the health outcomes associated with occupational sitting among apparently healthy individuals. The study followed 481,688 participants over an average period of 12.85 years, collecting data on their occupational sitting habits, leisure-time physical activity (LTPA), lifestyle choices, and metabolic health. The findings revealed that individuals who predominantly sat at work had a 16% higher risk of all-cause mortality, and a 34% higher risk of cardiovascular disease mortality compared to those who predominantly did not sit at work. These increased risks persisted even after accounting for factors such as age, sex, education, smoking, drinking, and body mass index. To counteract the negative effects of prolonged sitting, the study suggests that individuals who sit most of the day at work should aim to add 15 to 30 minutes of physical activity per day. This additional…

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Finding your ‘why’ for moving more at work

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This won’t be like most articles that you’re used to reading online. You won’t find 6 quick steps to feeling more motivated to reduce sedentary time at work. You won’t see expert secrets that promise “one strategy to unlocking your inner drive”. What you might find is something more valuable to you as an individual. Because the reality is, we’re all just too different for there to be one motivation to change. No one thinks and experiences the world quite like you do. What motivates you to move more at work, may not be the same thing that motivates your colleague, team leader or morning coffee buddy. In a world where we’re loaded with information about what we should and shouldn’t do, we could probably do with a bit more “why” time. So, we’ve parked the “what” for now and instead focused on ways for you to consider your own internal motivators. This is a way to help you to find your own, individual ‘why’ for reducing the sedentary time and moving more at work. If you’re still reading, it’s likely that you’re thinking about changing your sedentary time at work. Or at the very least, you’re curious about whether…

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How AI can help your team to BeUpstanding

BeUpstanding Stories

OpenAI and their program ChatGPT is a gamechanger in how information is synthesised and delivered. While big issues, such as the implications of the program on the future of work are under discussion, for BeUpstanding champions, it provides a great opportunity to easily get ideas to help your team sit less and move more. We decided to put the program to the test. We asked: What are ideas for a standing meeting? The program wrote:  There are several ideas for conducting standing meetings: Hold the meeting in a standing-only area, such as a standing desk or a huddle room, to encourage participants to stay on their feet. Use a whiteboard or flipchart for brainstorming and note-taking, which allows participants to move around and engage with the material in a more active way. Incorporate movement into the meeting, such as taking a short walk outside or doing a quick stretching routine. Use standing or standing-height tables for seating, this will make it less comfortable to sit and encourage standing. Use a timer to remind participants to stand up and move around during the meeting, or to take short breaks. Make it a walking meeting, where participants walk and talk while discussing…

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How 2 minute activity breaks during the workday can reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease

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In a typical week in the office, workers on average can spend 30 hours of their workday sitting, with much of this accrued in prolonged, unbroken bouts. Sedentary behaviours, such as sitting, increases ‘bad’ cholesterol (LDL–C), decreases ‘good’ cholesterol (HDL–C) levels and increases the risk of abnormal glucose metabolism. These physiological markers can contribute to an increased risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease mortality, and diabetes. Previous studies have found that regularly breaking up prolonged sitting with activity breaks can have benefit for these indicators of cardiometabolic health in a laboratory setting. However, the impacts of regular breaks in an office setting are less clear. One simple way to increase breaks in prolonged sitting is to schedule short 2-minute activity breaks throughout the day by climbing stairs. A recent pilot study published in BMC Public Health Journal investigated the feasibility of introducing prompted stair climbing exercise breaks into the workplace and assessed any resulting improvements in glucose and cholesterol levels. It also evaluated the acceptability of such activity as an interruption of their work. What was done? Over eight weeks, 16 sedentary office workers from the United Kingdom (five females) took part in this quasi-experimental research study. Blood samples were taken…

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Sitting time under A-REST for police employees in the UK

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Police officers and staff are a workplace population with unique challenges when it comes to reducing time spent sitting. A recent study conducted at the Bedfordshire Police Headquarters in the UK investigated whether it is feasible to implement an intervention to reduce and break up prolonged sitting time among police employees. What was the intervention? The A-REST intervention (Activity to Reduce Excessive Sitting Time) was a multi-component, 8-week program informed by the Behaviour Change Wheel. It included components such as an education session, behaviour change booklet, electronic prompts, health champion, weekly emails, a smartphone app for self-monitoring, and individual feedback on behaviour. Additionally, a stand-out component was a team competition with a trophy.  Winners of the trophy were calculated by using a series of QR codes posted throughout the research site which participants scanned to log breaks from sitting. This study is the first of its kind to use such a competition using QR codes as a tool to reduce and break up sitting time. Interestingly, A-REST did not utilise sit-stand desks, despite these becoming very common in workplace sitting interventions. While feasibility and acceptability of the intervention were the primary goals, workplace and daily sitting, standing and steps, cardiometabolic…

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Standing desks alongside other measures cut office workers’ sitting time by an hour a day

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Using a standing desk alongside a package of other measures to encourage office workers to sit less and move more, reduced sitting time by about an hour a day over one year, finds a trial published in The BMJ. These measures were also linked to small (though not clinically meaningful) improvements in stress, wellbeing, and energy levels at work. BeUpstanding team members Professors Genevieve Healy and David Dunstan were part of the research team that was led by A/Prof Charlotte Edwardson from The University of Leicester in the UK. What was the study about? The randomised controlled trial was evaluating the impact of the Smart Work and Life intervention with and without a sit-stand workstation, compared to a comparison group. The Smart Work and Life intervention is designed to support desk-based workers to sit less and move more, both in the workplace and at home. The trial involved 756 office workers from two councils in Leicester, three in Greater Manchester, and one in Liverpool. Similar to BeUpstanding, the Smart Work and Life (SWAL) intervention uses workplace champions to deliver the intervention. Those in the intervention group were given a range of resources to help them reduce their sitting time, and highlight…

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How your input is helping build BeUpstanding

BeUpstanding Stories

The BeUpstanding program is based on over a decade of research evidence into what works to help desk workers to sit less and move more. Throughout the program we have worked with multiple stakeholders, including current and potential users of the toolkit, employees, managers, and policy and practice partners, to continue to improve the program. We recently published a scientific article describing this user centred design process and how it was used to adapt the program to be ready for the national implementation trial. The article showcases the multiple people and multiple disciplines involved in developing and implementing a workplace health promotion program like BeUpstanding, including content experts, design thinking and interaction design, business and product development, software development, implementation science. The article also describes the multiple ways in which data were collected to inform the iterative adaptions, including through deep dive interviews, surveys, toolkit analytics, and ad hoc communication and feedback. The BeUpstanding Journey Map was developed to help users understand what was involved in the BeUpstanding program.  As we wrap up the national implementation trial, we are busily applying the user centred design approach to build the next iteration of BeUpstanding. This approach ensures that the program meets…

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Champion Insights – Barriers to engaging management and staff in BeUpstanding

BeUpstanding Stories

Implementing a well-being program in a workplace can come with some challenges, one of which can be engaging staff and/or management in the program. As part of the national trial of BeUpstanding we are interested in learning what some of the barriers were in relation to engaging staff and management in the BeUpstanding program, a workplace champion led program aimed at supporting staff to sit less and move more in the workplace. As part of the program completion survey that BeUpstanding Champions complete upon finishing the 8-week implementation phase of the BeUpstanding program, they are asked the following question: “Tell us about any barriers to engaging management or staff in the BeUpstanding program that you have noticed”. The changes associated with working from home due to COVID-19, namely the lack of visibility and the lack of equipment, were identified as common barriers. It’s hard to get everyone on board.  Working from home made it more challenging – less visibility. Some staff were working from home during the program where they didn’t have sit to stand desks and fellow workers to encourage more movement. A lack of time/being too busy, and only having support from some levels of management, were also…

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Economics of Sedentary Behaviour

Latest evidence

It is well established that sedentary behaviour is an established risk factor for several diseases; however, its economic impacts are less understood. Published in Preventative Medicine last week, a paper titled “Economics of sedentary behaviour: A systematic review of cost of illness, cost-effectiveness, and return on investment studies” is the first review that has investigated the broader economic credentials of Sedentary Behaviour. The authors, Nguyen P et al., reviewed the literature on the economic costs associated with excessive sedentary behaviour and the cost-effectiveness of interventions targeting sedentary time. The review identified nine articles. Three reported healthcare costs associated with excessive sedentary time, and found that healthcare costs associated with excessive sedentary time as reported in cost of illness studies were substantial. However, none explored non-health sector costs. In the six articles which were economic evaluations of interventions targeting sedentary behaviour, they adopted a societal perspective. However, costs included differed depending on the intervention context. The authors concluded that excessive sedentary behaviour is likely associated with excess healthcare costs and of the limited interventions targeting sedentary behaviour reduction that have been economically evaluated, most were likely to be cost-effective. The most promising interventions from a cost-effectiveness perspective were those that included…

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Champion Insights – Maintaining Strategies to Sit Less and Move More

BeUpstanding Stories

One of the core goals of BeUpstanding is to assist workplaces to create a culture where sitting less and moving more is the norm. This means not only looking at individual changes that desk-based workers can make but also helping workplaces to make sustainable changes to the work environment, policy and culture. In order to find out how workplace champions and their teams have gone with maintaining the original strategies they chose during the program to sit less and move more, champions that are taking part in the BeUpstanding trial are asked to complete a maintenance workplace audit 12 months after commencing the BeUpstanding program.  At this time they are also contacted by the BeUpstanding team via phone to discuss how their team and workplace have gone with maintaining their strategies. This article looks at some of the feedback from champions who have completed this 12-month phone call and maintenance workplace audit questionnaire and describes the types of strategies champions reported to have been successfully maintained in their workplaces. It also explores some of the supporting factors to maintaining changes to move more in the workplace and some of the common challenges champions experienced. To date, we have had 36…

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