On average, how long do you spend sat at your office chair? Think carefully, because it’s probably far more than you think. The average adult in the UK sits down for more than 7 hours every day, whether that’s at work or in general. As we get older, that is thought to increase to around 10 hours.
Whilst that might not sound like a lot, considering there are 24 hours in a day, sitting for 7 hours is actually considered to be a sedentary lifestyle. The problem is compounded by the fact that most of us don’t get enough exercise either, so we’re sitting for longer and we’re not doing much to counteract the possible effects.
It all adds up to a rather unhealthy picture, whether you’re sat at your office desk or not.
Office workers are at an increased risk of health issues related to sitting for too long. This basically comes down to the fact that the very crux of office work includes sitting down at a desk, either on ergonomic chairs or otherwise, and doing work at a computer. Whilst it’s possible to get up and walk around occasionally, the bulk of the day is spent sat down. More and more employers are becoming aware of these risks and encouraging their staff to be more active in the workplace. This includes height adjustable desks for sitting and standard patterns, active seating methods, and encouraging staff to simply move more, e.g. being active on breaks, as well as taking regular breaks also.
As an employee, it’s important that you sit up, quite literally, and take notice of this advice.
The reason? There are some very worrying hidden dangers of sitting down for too long, whether you’re sat at reception seating or in the boardroom for a long meeting.
Sitting for too long can:
- Increase your risk of developing diabetes
- Drastically increase your risk of developing heart disease or your risk of having another type of cardiovascular issue, such as a heart attack or stroke
- Affect your mood and put you at increased risk of depression and anxiety
- Increase your risk of obesity and weight gain, which comes with its own set of effects
- Increase your blood pressure
- Shorten your lifespan
- Increase your risk of dementia in later life
- Increase your risk of DVT, or a blood clot in your leg
- Increase your risk of varicose veins
- Put excess pressure on your lower back, causing chronic pain
- Loss of flexibility and strength in the muscles
- Slow your metabolism down which affects blood sugar, blood pressure and the way in which your body breaks down fat
Do we need to go on?
Being as active at work as possible is therefore vital if you want to live a healthy and long life. You should also look to increase the amount of exercise you’re doing out of work too. The NHS recommends that we do around 150 minutes of exercise (moderate) per week, and it’s best to do this in bursts of 10 minutes. Activities such as walking, swimming or cycling are ideal, and the intensity level should be enough to get you a little out of breath and get your heart beating faster, but not to the point where you can’t continue with a conversation.
Remembering to get up regularly from your mesh office chairs and do something different will give you a boost of focus and will also help you to become more active. This can be collaborating and walking around the table, giving ideas, rather than sitting, or it can be walking to the other side of the office to the printer; whatever works for you!
Whilst there isn’t a lot we can do about the very fact that office work involves a large amount of sitting, we can put into practice measures that help us to be as active as possible throughout the day. By doing this, getting up out of those cheap modern office chairs, and focusing on health and wellbeing, perhaps we can counteract some of the damaging effects we mentioned earlier.