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”…
