Experts say that standing desks – billed as the ultimate antidote to sitting in front of a screen – don’t compensate for being inactive, and may, in fact, even increase the risk of conditions like swollen veins and blood clots in the legs.
Research involving more than 80 000 adults in the UK has also discovered that standing does not reduce the risk of diseases like stroke and heart failure, despite the widely held belief that it does, reports The Guardian.
The study, led by the University of Sydney, found that being on your feet for more than two hours a day may increase the risk of developing problems such as deep vein thrombosis and varicose veins. The findings were published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.
Dr Matthew Ahmadi, of the University of Sydney’s faculty of medicine and health, said people who sat or stood for long periods should schedule regular movement throughout the day.
“The key takeaway is that standing for too long will not offset an otherwise sedentary lifestyle and could be risky for some people’s circulatory health. It does not improve cardiovascular health over the long-term and increases the risk of circulatory issues.”
To establish if standing provided any health benefits, the researchers studied data from 83 013 adults who are part of the UK Biobank health records database.
These people did not have heart disease at the start of the study and wore devices on their wrists to track movement. The team found that for every extra 30 minutes spent standing beyond two hours, the risk of circulatory disease increased by 11%.
Standing was not found to reduce the risk of heart conditions such as stroke, heart failure and coronary heart disease, the researchers said.
Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, director of the Mackenzie Wearables Research Hub at the University of Sydney, said: “For people who sit for long periods on a regular basis, including plenty of incidental movement throughout the day and structured exercise may be a better way to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
“Take regular breaks, walk around, go for a walking meeting, use the stairs, take regular breaks when driving long distances, or use that lunch hour to get away from the desk and do some movement.”
Emily McGrath, a senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation who was not involved with the research, said the findings highlighted the importance of being active during the working day.
“The more people can avoid being stationary, the better,” she said. “Over the long term, the study showed that standing time was not associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, however it did have other circulatory health implications for some. It is important to get active to reduce this risk.”
Study details
Device-measured stationary behaviour and cardiovascular and orthostatic circulatory disease incidence
Matthew Ahmadi, Pieter Coenen, Leon Straker, Emmanuel Stamatakis.
Published in the International Journal of Epidemiology on 16 October 2024
Abstract
Background
Previous studies have indicated that standing may be beneficially associated with surrogate metabolic markers, whereas more time spent sitting has an adverse association. Studies assessing the dose-response associations of standing, sitting and composite stationary behaviour time with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and orthostatic circulatory disease are scarce and show an unclear picture.
Objective
To examine associations of daily sitting, standing and stationary time with CVD and orthostatic circulatory disease incidence
Methods
We used accelerometer data from 83 013 adults (mean age ± standard deviation = 61.3 ± 7.8; female = 55.6%) from the UK Biobank to assess daily time spent sitting and standing. Major CVD was defined as coronary heart disease, heart failure and stroke. Orthostatic circulatory disease was defined as orthostatic hypotension, varicose vein, chronic venous insufficiency and venous ulcers. To estimate the dose-response hazard ratios (HR) we used Cox proportional hazards regression models and restricted cubic splines. The Fine–Gray subdistribution method was used to account for competing risks.
Results
During 6.9 (±0.9) years of follow-up, 6829 CVD and 2042 orthostatic circulatory disease events occurred. When stationary time exceeded 12 h/day, orthostatic circulatory disease risk was higher by an average HR (95% confidence interval) of 0.22 (0.16, 0.29) per hour. Every additional hour above 10 h/day of sitting was associated with a 0.26 (0.18, 0.36) higher risk. Standing more than 2 h/day was associated with an 0.11 (0.05, 0.18) higher risk for every additional 30 min/day. For major CVD, when stationary time exceeded 12 h/day, risk was higher by an average of 0.13 (0.10, 0.16) per hour. Sitting time was associated with a 0.15 (0.11, 0.19) higher risk per extra hour. Time spent standing was not associated with major CVD risk.
Conclusions
Time spent standing was not associated with CVD risk but was associated with higher orthostatic circulatory disease risk. Time spent sitting above 10 h/day was associated with both higher orthostatic circulatory disease and major CVD risk. The deleterious associations of overall stationary time were primarily driven by sitting. Collectively, our findings indicate increasing standing time as a prescription may not lower major CVD risk and may lead to higher orthostatic circulatory disease risk.
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