Health Risks of Having a Desk Job
November 8th, 2010 | 
Author: Having a desk job could be the biggest health risk in your life if you don’t make some changes to your sedentary lifestyle.
Many of us work day in and day out sitting at a desk, some at home, some in offices. We know that too much sitting around leads to health risks such as obesity and heart disease.
But what about those people who faithfully keep their weight under control and work out strenuously for an hour every day? This cancels out the negative effects of sitting at a desk all day, right?
Wrong!
Studies conducted by the Pennington Biomedical Research Center (the leading obesity research center in the U.S.) have found that the health risks of a sedentary day are not helped by adding a separate exercise session no matter how intense it is. Dr. Peter Katzmarzyk at the Pennington Center says, “Regularly exercising is not the same as being active. A person may hit the gym every day, but if he’s sitting a good deal of the rest of the time, he’s probably not leading an overall active life.”
Even standing around is healthier than sitting. A study in the UK compared bus drivers, who sit most of the day, to conductors, who stand. The drivers were twice as likely as the conductors to die of heart disease, even if they had the same amount of belly fat.
From Dr. Katzmarzyk again: “The evidence that sitting is associated with heart disease is very strong. We see it in people who smoke and people who don’t. We see it in people who are regular exercisers and those who aren’t. Sitting is an independent risk factor.”
Dr. Marc Hamilton, also of the Pennington Center says, “Humans sit too much, so you have to treat the problem specifically. The cure for too much sitting isn’t more exercise. We know there’s a gene in the body that causes heart disease, but it doesn’t respond to exercise no matter how often or how hard you work out. And yet the activity of the gene becomes worse from sitting – or rather, the complete and utter lack of contractile activity in your muscles. So the more nonexercise activity you do, the more total time you spend on your feet and out of your chair. That’s the real cure.”
Nonexercise activity is defined as activity that is incidental to your life such as walking down the hall, housework, or even just standing.
My next post will discuss other health risks of having a desk job besides heart disease.
Congrats on the bike riding, Jenn – that’s more activity than most people get during the day! Staying healthy is a constant battle but it definitely pays off in the end!
Yeah I work a 9-6 job and sit in front of a computer while at work and then sit at my computer at home during my free time. I sit a lot. I feel I was much healthier when I was broke and had to be a waiter. I had to run my behind off 5 hours a night. right now, it’s a good thing I ride my bike to work 10 miles round trip. I can at least feel good about that.
Jenn recently posted..Orchid Recovery Center for Women
@Susan and @Chelsea
It really is important to get out of your chair as much as possible, which is easier said than done when you have deadlines to meet! I religiously set an alarm to remind me when an hour has gone by so that I’ll get up and move around. ( I get some of my best ideas when I’m walking.) But sometimes when I’m on a roll, it’s difficult to stop when the alarm sounds. I need to be more disciplined about that!
As a writer I spend about 10-12 hours sitting a day, maybe more, and it’s starting to freak me out! I’ve tried standing while working. In fact, I’m standing now. But I always seep back into my chair soon after… Desk jobs aren’t going anywhere–if anything, we can surely count on more time at the computer as the years go on. What can we do to keep off our bums throughout the day??
Wow, such a powerful message! It is amazing how bad a desk job can be….I wonder if someone asked their employer for a desk at standing height if they would do it. I would love to be able to do that right in my home office but major demo would need to be done. I try to get up once every hour to move around and stretch.
Susan@Home Workouts recently posted..Fitness Challenge Of The Week – Week 2
Michelle, I hadn’t heard of juststand.org. Thanks for the helpful link.
The research is fascinating when you start drilling down further. There’s a fair amount of it too. Take a look at http://research.juststand.org, one spot that is trying to pull resources together for people, like me, who find they are sitting longer than they should be. ; -) Glad to see you covering this important issue.
Michelle J recently posted..Students-teachers engage in latest technologies at NMSA