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Higher desks can’t stand alone to combat ‘chair disease’

Intervention programs that use various techniques to encourage office workers to sit less and move more are more effective against “chair disease” than stand-up workstations alone.

Researchers compared the multicomponent strategy against the stand-up desks intervention approach by trying and observing each on separate control groups.

Those who were educated on the dangers of extended sitting, and encouraged to stand in meetings and visit colleagues rather than emailing them spent less time on chairs than those only given stand-up desks.

Sitting is a deep-seated office routine, and researchers found that a more widespread approach was required to make workers feel more comfortable standing and moving around the office.

Researchers hope the finding will lead to improved measures to reduce sitting time, and related risks of Type 2 diabetes, obesity, musculoskeletal conditions, and some cancers.

Read more at The University of Queensland

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