The introduction of standing desks for local authority employees can help improve the health and happiness of workers, new research reveals.
The University of Leicester researchers carried out a study of the relationship between sitting time and health involving 756 desk-based employees from councils in Leicester, Liverpool, and Greater Manchester.
The study found that a combination of education, motivational resources, peer support and standing desks has the greatest effect on reducing sitting in the workplace.
Workers also reported feeling ‘more energised, focused and productive’.
Dr Charlotte Edwardson, associate professor of Physical Activity Sedentary Behaviour and Health at the University of Leicester, and lead author of the paper, said: ‘These results are a major step in providing evidence-based tools to reduce sedentary behaviour and improve health in the workplace.’
Dr Alex Clarke-Cornwell, reader in Public Health Epidemiology from the University of Salford, who is a co-author of the study, said: ‘Alongside the reduction in sitting time, participants perceived small improvements in stress, wellbeing, and work vigour. They also reported feeling more energised, focused and productive, with the group who also received the desk reporting fewer musculoskeletal issues.’
