Standing up, indeed, has its own health benefits. A recent study has discovered that standing for a quarter of a day significantly decreases the likelihood of obesity in both men and women.
The study, published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, attempted to look further into the protective health benefits that standing has, as opposed to the negative health effects that sedentary behavior, like watching TV while sitting brings.
The researchers, led by Dr. Kerem Shuval, Director of Physical Activity & Nutrition Research at the American Cancer Society, studied data collected from more than 7,000 adults having preventive medicine visits at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas, Texas, from 2010 to 2015.
They assessed the association between standing time and obesity, using three measures: body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage and waist circumference. The association between time standing and metabolic risk was also assessed, via “metabolic syndrome,” a clustering of risk factors related to heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
The researchers found that among men, those who stood up for a quarter of the time was linked to a 32% reduced likelihood of obesity, while standing half the time led to a 59% reduced likelihood for obesity. Surprisingly, standing for more than three-fourths of the time was not linked to any reduction in the likelihood of obesity.
Amongst the women, standing for a quarter of the time was linked to 35% reduced likelihood, standing for half the time was linked to 47%, and standing for more than three-quarters led to a 57% reduced likelihood of obesity. There was no relationship between time spent standing and metabolic risk among both genders.
The researchers also assessed whether adding physical activities to plain standing would result to added health benefits. They found out that for those who met physical activities guidelines per day (either 150 minutes of moderate activity, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity) in addition to their time spent standing, a more substantial reduction in the likelihood of obesity is achieved.
Although the findings provide evidence on the potential health benefits that plain standing gives, the researchers cautioned in a press release that their study should be interpreted with its limitations in mind. More studies are needed to be able to conclude that standing does have protective health benefits.
Although standing does pose potential health benefits, the researchers suggested further studies involving its adverse effects (i.e. varicose veins).
Do you think standing does have protective health benefits? Put in your opinions in the comments section below.
