Office workers 'should stand for two hours a day', say doctors

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People spend average of 60 per cent of their waking time sitting down
Sitting is directly linked to back, neck and muscle pain
Experts say it's down to employers to set a 'daily quota' of standing time
But they add that standing on the spot for hours may be just as harmful

By Ben Spencer Medical Correspondent For The Daily Mail

Published: 18:22 EST, 1 June 2015 | Updated: 02:35 EST, 2 June 2015

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Office staff should spend at least two hours a day on their feet to combat health problems, according to official recommendations.

People spend nine hours on average sitting down – 60 per cent of their waking time.

Doctors say this sedentary behaviour is contributing to serious health issues including obesity, cancer and type two diabetes.

It is also directly linked to back, neck and muscle pain, the cause of 131million sick days each year.

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Health risk: Doctors say that office workers should spend two hours a day on their feet to avoid increasing their risk of cancer, Type 2 diabetes and obesity, and that it's up to employers to issue a 'standing time' quota (file photo)

Now experts commissioned by Public Health England have issued the first series of recommendations to deal with the problem.

They say employers should set a ‘daily quota’ of time during which their staff should be on their feet.

Initially, workers should spend at least two hours a day standing, but in time this should be bumped up to four hours. Offices should have a number of higher desks where people can stand, staff should regularly walk around the office, and people should break up long periods of sitting.

The guidance, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, highlights the dangers of prolonged sitting, which it says is a separate problem from inactivity alone.

The authors wrote: ‘For those working in offices, 65-75 per cent of their working hours are spent sitting, of which more than 50 per cent of this is accumulated in prolonged periods of sustained sitting.’

They said that simply getting people to stand might be a first step towards getting them to take up exercise. But they added that standing on the spot for hours may be as harmful as prolonged sitting, so also recommended taking breaks to walk around the office.

Short walks: But as standing for hours on end can be just as dangerous, experts recommend taking breaks to walk around the office (file photo)

They wrote: ‘Employers need to evaluate the best ways to achieve this, whether through changing how and when people can take breaks from sitting, which involve standing and movement, or through workstation designs.’

The authors, from the universities of Chester, Leicester and Sheffield Hallam and University College London, said those who resist the changes should take their lead from nurses, teachers and other workers who stand and move ‘for considerably more than four hours a day’.

The recommendations come after Dame Sally Davies, the chief medical officer, called inactivity ‘a silent killer’. She advises that adults spend two-and-a-half hours a week in moderate activity in bursts of ten minutes or more.

Last night Dr Ann Hoskins, deputy director for health and wellbeing at Public Health England, said: ‘This research supports the chief medical officer’s recommendations.

‘Being active is good for physical and mental health. Simple changes to break up long periods of sitting can make a huge difference. However more research needs to be carried out before daily targets for work place activity are recommended.’

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