Do Standing Desks Really Make You Healthier? The Truth Behind the Hype

While standing desk is the trendiest way to work after reports of various health risks associated with sedentary lifestyle were released, a new study suggests that there is insufficient evidence to support health benefits of standing desks. Apparently, standing is no better than sitting.

Popular Science revealed that standing desks were a solution thought to counter the long-term effects of prolonged sitting or sedentary lifestyle. Prolonged sitting has been linked to increased risk of obesity, heart and kidney disease and overall mortality.

However, a new study seemed to think that standing desks are all but just a hype. There is no concrete evidence have been established to conclude that standing is actually better than sitting.

Experts say Standing Desks are basically useless https://t.co/dJX1wEjQLH After they encouraged you to invest in them.

— Adrean Arlott (@AdreanArlott) March 23, 2016

A team of researchers looked at 20 existing studies on the subject and they found them to be either small or poorly designed to bear significance, Boston reports. The researcher noted that the longest study about standing desks only spanned six months, obviously not long enough to draw concrete conclusions. The new study was published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Review.

Furthermore, the researchers also noted that standing desks can reduce sitting time from 30 minutes to 2 hours only per day. There's no medical literature that supports this limited time of intervention can reverse effects of sedentary lifestyle.

Looking at the long term, the study suggests exploring other interventions to reduce sitting time in workplaces. Further research is needed to check the long term effects of other interventions to reduce sitting time, the researchers stated. Local experts seemed to agree with their findings.

"We know sitting too long is bad," Dr. Sherry Pagoto, an associate professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School said. "But we don't know for sure standing is better so we sort of jumped the gun trying to get people to stop sitting and encouraged them to stand without any knowledge of whether standing is better."

Pagoto also added that it's too soon to tell companies to invest more on standing desks. Instead, it would be better for them to encourage employees to maintain an active lifestyle.

Dr. JoAnn E. Manson, chief of the Division of Preventive Medicine at Bringham and Women's Hospital and a professor at Harvard University, seemed to echo the sentiments of Pagoto and the researchers. Clearly, walking is deemed better than sitting or standing.

Check out a review of a standing desk from LinusTechTips. Do you think standing desks are actually better? Hit us up with your comments below.