Adjustable desks reduced sitting time by almost an hour
Added to a program to sit less, across 24 workplaces and 630 employees. A combined metabolic-risk measure showed no firm change.
The key idea
Adding adjustable desks to a workplace program reduced sitting time, but there was no firm change in the metabolic-risk measure.
The study, in plain language
A desk job can involve sitting nearly all day. To see what changed, researchers randomized 24 workplaces to two strategies: a program with organizational changes and advice to reduce sedentary time, or the same support plus adjustable workstations for alternating between sitting and standing.
After one year, adding desks reduced sitting time by almost an hour per eight-hour workday compared with the program without desks. There was no firm group difference in light activity or the combined metabolic-risk measure. In an additional, unplanned look at 95 workers with prediabetes or diabetes, some measures showed a more favorable pattern. Participants were relatively healthy full-time workers, and 143 of the 630 did not contribute the primary data at the end.
What they found
- The trial compared a program to reduce sitting with the same program plus adjustable desks.
- With adjustable desks, employees spent almost an hour less sitting per eight-hour workday.
- There was no firm change in the combined measure of metabolic health in the full group.
Something to think about
If you work at a desk, how long do you sit before changing position? Here, adjustable desks shortened sitting time, but did not clearly change an overall metabolic-health measure.
How they studied it
Researchers randomized 24 U.S. workplaces to two programs: one focused on organizational and habit changes to reduce sitting, and another that added adjustable stations for alternating between sitting and standing. The trial followed 630 full-time workers for 12 months.
What the study cannot show
- There was no no-intervention group, so the trial compares two active approaches. Only relatively healthy full-time workers took part; 143 of 630 did not provide primary data at the end. The metabolic subgroup analysis was exploratory.
- It does not show that standing alone prevents disease or that changes in biological measures were certainly caused by adjustable desks. Nor does it establish effects in other workplaces or on long-term health.
The original study
Efficacy of the ‘Stand and Move at Work’ multicomponent workplace intervention to reduce sedentary time and improve cardiometabolic risk: a group randomized clinical trial
Source under CC BY 4.0. English adaptation and explanation by PaperFlow, with AI assistance. The text has been reorganized for a general audience; it is not the complete paper and does not imply endorsement by its authors.
One study alone does not represent a field's consensus. Educational content does not replace professional advice. Report a possible error.
