Most of us are leading a sedentary life, almost 13 hours; of which over half the time is sitting at work. Too much sitting is not good, making way for the saying, sitting is the new smoking.
Before massive computerisation, most people had active forms of working patterns. A lot of white-collared workers were engaged in construction activity and some were into research. Those in research were a bit sedentary but not to the extent of what we see in office-based (banking, IT etc.) workers today.
As I lived in a research organization’s staff quarters in Mumbai, I have personally observed as a child how research scientists in the 1970s and 1980s used to periodically walk out of their research labs and took a stroll perhaps thinking about the next steps.
My sone in the US doing PhD in computer science makes it a point not to sit for long during research-hours. He periodically tests his research in a lab and that keeps him on the toes, literally. He also walks out of the lab and sometimes sits under a tree or walks along the Charles river in Boston, thinking about the next steps. This is because he has been made aware that excessive sitting is bad for health. He is aware and he has made a choice.
It is necessary to create awareness in the Millennials and Gen Z (Zoomers) especially if we have to avoid musculoskeletal and other health risks in them in future. Awareness will help them make a choice to preserve their health.
Research is ongoing as to what is the way out to make computer-based workers a lot more active. Most Millennials and Zoomers usually gym in the morning for an hour and then sit almost the entire work-day thereby negating the gymming activity; one has to be continuously active to be benefitted.
One of the simplest outcomes of the ongoing research is to have adjustable or sit-stand working desk so that at least there is some activity due to change of position. However, this leads the workers from one static position (sitting) to another static position (standing).
Every new approach based on current research on ergonomics (simply stated is the science of work wherein the machine adjusts to the man) has its pros and cons, be it cost, space occupied etc.
An active desk is the sit-stand (or adjustable) desk vs the static desk which cannot be adjusted. For office workers an active work desk offers an opportunity to develop healthy habits by making it easier for them to change positions throughout the day. An active desk promotes musculoskeletal health.
Public Health England recommends at least 2 hours of standing on a working day, slowing increasing it to 4 hours. This is because there is growing evidence that excessive sitting is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and even some cancers, reason why sitting is called the new smoking.
Just because the company where you work doesn’t have an active (sit-stand or adjustable) desk, doesn’t mean that you will ruin your health. The least you can do in such situations is to take frequent breaks (get up from the chair every 30 minutes, walk a few paces, go to a nearby window, see a distant object and return back to your chair). Taking frequent breaks and moving around will help you preserve your health and keep you away from serious illnesses in future. It is a choice you have.
The advice to all office workers is simple – to remember that sitting is the new smoking and hence work on an active (sit-stand or adjustable) work desk, if future obesity, diabetes, heart attacks and cancers is to be prevented; and if you don’t have an active work desk, take frequent breaks and move around. Gymming for an hour or so in the morning and then sitting the entire working day in front of the computer negates all the good exercise done in the morning.
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