Workers shouldn't stand for long sitting sessions Illustration: Rocco Fazzari The health problems associated with sitting down for hours on end are so deadly that inactivity is as risky as smoking, says a researcher who has spent the past decade studying office environments. Genevieve Healy, a research fellow with the National Health and Medical Research Council, said there was increasing evidence linking hours of unbroken sitting with chronic illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes and even premature death. "Sitting is so prevalent and linked to many health outcomes, and this is why it's as bad as tobacco," said Dr Healy, from the University of Queensland School of Public Health. People are sitting for three-quarters of their work day, only getting up for a toilet break. A lot of people don't realise how long they are actually sitting down for, nor the relationships between it and poor health. Researchers studied an office of 130 government workers over three months and introduced measures including information sessions, an intervention campaign called Stand Up, Sit Less, Move More, sit-stand workstations, reminder emails and health coaching. Published in the international journal Preventive Medicine, researchers found by targeting managers and individual workers in combination with changes to the workplace, some people sat for up to two hours less each day. "Sit-stand workstations and ergonomic furniture were more effective when workplace managers actively encouraged their use," Dr Healy said. This combined with other interventions, like managers initiating walking meetings, showed substantial reductions in sitting time were achievable in office settings. Some workers may feel self-conscious if they were the only person standing in an otherwise sitting environment, which was why it was important to get managers on board and promote the health benefits to staff. "The problem with sitting for hours at work is something that has snuck up on us," Dr Healy said.