So this study claims. Please help wade through the crap in these statements. I don’t think standing still for hours is healthy either.
I tried to sit at 135 degrees while using my keyboard. This led to neck pain.
From what I can tell all of this research is based upon observational, epidemiologic studies. Epidemiologic studies can only show correlation, not causation, so none of these studies demonstrate that sitting is bad for you.
If sitting for long periods of time is unhealthy, are we to conclude that sleeping for long periods is unhealthy as well?
A much more sensible interpretation of the epidemiologic evidence is that unhealthy people (elderly people, obese people, depressed people, etc.) are more sedentary than healthy people and are therefore spend more time sitting.
Not an answer to your question but related (well, a little.)
Two weeks ago I brought donuts in for my group at work. A guy I didn’t know wandered in from another group - helped himself to a donut, asked who brought them and came over and gave me a long tirade about how sitting all day makes us fat. He said there should be no chairs, and our computers should just be on a podium. All this said while munching on a free donut.
Surely higher risk of DM and mortality is of concern?
By the way, thanks to google, I know that DM means Diabetes.
Just recall that Donald Rumsfeld always used a lectern (not a podium, which is something you stand on) so if you want to be like Rumsfeld, don’t use a chair.
I keep hearing that chairs are bad for you, but they are so comfortable.
What do you all think of the sitting at 135 degrees claim? I tried to sit at 135 degrees while using my keyboard. This just led to neck pain.
The only recommendations I’ve seen for the 135 degree posture have your back vertical, but the thighs are tilted down. This is what the “kneeling posture” chairs are usually designed to achieve (example showing a person).
The picture in the site you’re looking at shows the thighs horizontal and the back tilted at an angle and I’m sure that would cause neck pain. You might be able to watch TV comfortably in that position, but you sure can’t work.
You would need to support your head to relieve pressure on the neck. Holding your head free while supporting your back at that angle would strain the neck.
I am amused that chewing gum has almost twice as much additional energy over sitting as standing does. So everyone should chew gum while they sit rather than standing.
I also don’t buy the claims about electrical activity in the legs shutting off. I fidget like a Chihuahua on caffeine. I’m constantly wiggling. The rest of the claims on that slide are also suspect.