Standing Provides Several Health Benefits

AUSTRALIA —A recent study conducted at the University of Queensland and published in the European Heart Journal found that sitting for prolonged periods of time could be hazardous to your health.

The study included 782 participants who took part in the Australian Diabetes, Obesity, and Lifestyle Study. They were given monitors to wear 24/7 that kept track of how long each participant spent sitting, lying, standing, walking and running. In addition, the subjects provided blood samples, measurements of their blood pressure, waist circumference, and height and weight.

The researchers found that an extra two hours per day of standing instead of sitting was associated with a 2 percent improvement in blood sugar levels and an 11 percent lower average triglycerides (fat in the blood). In addition, they found that more standing time was directly associated with an increase in HDL (good) cholesterol levels and a decrease in LDL (bad) cholesterol levels.

According to lead author Genevieve Healy:

"More time spent standing rather than sitting could improve your blood sugar, fats in the blood and cholesterol levels, while replacing time spent sitting with time walking could have additional benefits for your waistline and body mass index."

If you are interested in receiving any of these health benefits, you might want to consider standing instead of sitting for long periods of time.


Have a great day.