- Sitting and sedentary behavior are linked to a higher risk of many health conditions, including cardiovascular disease.
- Standing isn’t enough to offset the negative health effects of a sedentary lifestyle, according to a new study.
- Prolonged standing may increase the risk of circulatory diseases, such as varicose veins, the authors suggest.
- Doctors recommend brief bursts of exercise or activity throughout the day to offset the health risks of sedentary behavior.
Many people are familiar with the modern-day sedentary routine: you sit all day at your work computer, and then you decompress by sitting at home watching television. All that sitting has serious negative effects on health.
Excessive sitting has been linked to everything from increased risk of cardiovascular disease to early death.
Standing desks and other innovations have made standing a popular antidote to extended periods of sitting. Unfortunately, standing may not be enough to offset those risks, according to new research.
A new study published in International Journal of Epidemiology suggests that prolonged standing may not offer much in the way of health benefits and raise the risk of orthostatic circulatory disease.
Australian researchers cast doubt on the benefits of standing and underscored the necessity for daily activity to combat sedentary behavior.
“Standing, although not associated with higher risk for heart disease, was also not associated with lower risk. More time spent standing was associated with higher risk for circulatory conditions,” Matthew Ahmadi, MD, first author of the study, research fellow, and deputy director of the Mackenzie Wearables Research Hub at the University of Sydney, told Healthline.
Sitting and ‘stationary’ behavior linked to circulatory disease
Using accelerometer data from more than 83,000 adults in the United Kingdom, researchers investigated the outcomes of sedentary behavior on cardiovascular disease and orthostatic circulatory disease outcomes.
Orthostatic circulatory disease refers to a cluster of conditions related to circulation, including orthostatic hypotension and varicose veins.
The findings were confirmatory of the risks related to sitting.
Sitting for more than 10 hours per day increased both cardiovascular and orthostatic disease risk. For every hour of sitting above 10 hours, cardiovascular disease risk increased by 15%, and orthostatic disease risk increased by 26%.
“Stationary behavior,” which includes both standing and sitting without movement, showed similar risks when performed more than 12 hours per day: for every additional hour CVD risk increased by 13% and orthostatic disease risk jumped by 22%.
Standing time was not associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, but was positively associated with orthostatic disease risk.
After 2 hours of standing per day, every additional 30 minutes was associated with an 11% increased risk.
“It’s not sitting or standing, it’s the lack of movement or continuous uninterrupted sedentary behavior that’s problematic and you can still do that when you’re standing. You can be sedentary while standing,” Scott Lear, PhD, a professor of health sciences and Chair in Cardiovascular Prevention Research at Simon Fraser University, told Healthline.
Is standing better than sitting?
Despite the findings, other experts maintained that standing is still likely a better option than sitting, although the health benefits may be limited.
“For the same amount of sedentary time, standing was better than sitting,” Michael McConnell, MD, a clinical professor of cardiovascular medicine at Stanford Medicine told Healthline. “But more standing is not a panacea in that it doesn’t decrease CVD risk — you need to move for that,” he added.
Evan L. Brittain, MD, MsC, an associate professor of cardiovascular medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, agreed that standing still has health benefits.
“I disagree with the idea that standing isn’t ever a valuable replacement for sitting. If you’ve got to be in one place and you’ve got to be stationary, then I think these data do support standing,” he told Healthline.
Although standing may not be protective against CVD or orthostatic disease risk, it was still associated with a lower risk overall than sitting.
“Less harmful is the same as being beneficial. If you’ve got to be in one place in front of your computer, then compared to sitting, standing is beneficial. That’s another way of interpreting these data,” said Brittain.
How to offset sedentary behavior
According to the CDC, about 1 in 4 Americans sit for more than 8 hours per day, and the average U.S. adult sits between 6.5 to 8 hours per day.
There’s no clear solution on how to solve the sedentary behavior problem in America, but the experts interviewed by Healthline offered a variety of strategies, including:
- using a treadmill desk
- changing your position at regular intervals using a convertible sit-to-standing desk
- setting an alarm reminder to get up and move every hour
- being active at work (i.e., taking phone calls while walking or walking meetings)
- incidental activity like getting up for coffee
- incorporating chores like laundry throughout the day if you work from home
“To optimize cardiovascular health and lower the risk for circulatory conditions, standing should be mixed with periods spent walking or doing other forms of activity that gets the body moving. Such as taking the stairs or a short walk around the block mixed in with standing,” said Ahmadi.
Takeaway
A new study of more than 83,000 individuals investigated the effects of sitting and standing on cardiovascular disease risk and circulatory disease risk.
Contrary to popular belief, standing was not shown to be protective against cardiovascular disease risk. And, like sitting, extended periods of standing may increase the risk of circulatory diseases, such as varicose veins.
To offset the deleterious health effects of sedentary behavior, doctors recommend periodic exercise and activity throughout the day. This could include set periods of walking or light activity, or incorporating activity into work itself, such as through walking meetings or phone calls.
