Standing desk health benefits, risks probed in study [Video]

Office workers around the world have embraced standing desks as a passive way to improve their health, though the concrete benefits may not stand up to scrutiny, new research from the University of Sydney has found.

Published this month, the study examined accelerometer data on 83,000 people from the United Kingdom-based health database, U.K. Biobank, reviewing time spent sitting and standing, comparing for rates of major cardiovascular and circulatory disease.

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Study subjects wore what the university called “research-grade wrist-worn wearables similar to a smartwatch.”

During a roughly seven-year period of data, researchers found that remaining stationary for more than 12 hours per day was associated with higher risk of heart disease, heart failure and stroke, but did not find a notable relationship that was particular to standing.

Instead, extended time standing was associated with a …