Kneeling at your desk ‘may protect office workers from the harmful effects of inactivity’

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Forget trendy standing desks! Kneeling at your desk or squatting on the floor ‘may protect office workers from the harmful effects of inactivity’

  • A sedentary lifestyle, such as an office job, is considered to be bad for the heart 
  • But a study suggests the effects can be offset by kneeling instead of sitting
  • Squatting is also better because such postures require more muscle activity
  • Researchers looked at small populations in Tanzania who tend to sit this way   

By Colin Fernandez Science Correspondent For The Daily Mail

Published: | Updated:

Trendy ‘standing’ desks – seen in many offices across the UK – may have met their match.

New research has found that squatting on the floor may be the answer to prevent ill health.

A sedentary lifestyle – such as sitting at a desk for as long as ten hours a day – is considered to be bad for the heart.

But new research has found that hunter gatherer populations in Tanzania have a similarly inactive lifestyle.

But because they spend much of the time squatting on their haunches, or kneeling, they did not show indications of ill health seen in office workers.

Resting postures such as squatting or kneeling may be better for health because require more muscle activity than sitting on a chair, researchers claim.

Trendy ‘standing’ desks – seen in many offices across the UK – may have met their match. New research has found that squatting on the floor may be the answer to prevent ill health

New research on hunter gatherer populations in Tanzania has found that squatting on the floor (pictured) may be the answer to prevent ill health

New research on hunter gatherer populations in Tanzania has found that squatting on the floor (pictured) may be the answer to prevent ill health

Despite being in resting postures for long periods of time, the Hazda people did not show any signs of the health conditions linked with inactivity. They are pictured in a kneeling position

Despite being in resting postures for long periods of time, the Hazda people did not show any signs of the health conditions linked with inactivity. They are pictured in a kneeling position

Dr David Raichlen, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Southern California’s Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and lead author on the study, said: ‘Even though there were long periods of inactivity, one of the key differences we noticed is that the Hadza are often resting in postures that require their muscles to maintain light levels of activity – either in a squat or kneeling.’ 

Prolonged sitting has been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and death, but according to the researchers, this contradicts the evolutionary aspect which favours strategies that conserve energy.

Brian Wood, an anthropologist at the University of California, and one of the study authors, said: ‘Preferences or behaviours that conserve energy have been key to our species’ evolutionary success.

TOO MUCH TIME SITTING DOWN KILLS 70,000 PEOPLE A YEAR

Inactivity is killing nearly 70,000 people in the UK every year and costing the NHS £700million, a study published in March 2019 found.

Experts warn Britain runs on a ‘sitting-based economy’ in which the vast majority of working adults spend their days bound to a desk.

Some 30 per cent of us spend at least six hours a day seated during the week.

But tellingly, at the weekend this figure goes up to 37 per cent, suggesting we are even lazier in our leisure time.

Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast warned that so much sedentary behaviour is causing thousands of cases of heart disease, type two diabetes, cancer and even death.

The academics, writing in the BMJ Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, calculated the NHS is spending £762million a year dealing with the consequences of people lounging around.

‘But when environments change rapidly, these same preferences can lead to less optimal outcomes. Prolonged sitting is one example.’ 

To find out more, the researchers looked at the data from 28 Hadza adults who wore devices, known as accelerometers, for eight days and compared it with the information gathered from previous studies that measured inactivity in modern working populations.

They found that their test subjects had high levels of physical activity for just over an hour a day alongside several hours of inactivity, between nine to 10 hours a day.

But despite remaining in resting postures for long periods of time, the Hazda people did not show any signs of the health conditions associated with a sedentary lifestyle.

The researchers said is because the Hazda squatting and kneeling uses more muscle movement than sitting on a chair.

They believe these active rest postures may help ‘protect people from the harmful effects of inactivity’.

Dr Raichlen said: ‘Being a couch potato – or even sitting in an office chair – requires less muscle activity than squatting or kneeling.

‘Since light levels of muscle activity require fuel, which generally means burning fats, then squatting and kneeling postures may not be as harmful as sitting in chairs.’ 

The research was published The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Pnas).

A 2018 study, published in the journal Ergonomics, linked prolonged use of standing desks with lower limb discomfort and deteriorating mental reactiveness.

Researchers at Curtin University in Australia based their findings on observing 20 participants working at standing desks for two hours.