1. Sitting vs. standing: an urgent need to rebalance our world
- Author
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Boris Cheval, Cédrick Bonnet, Université de Lille, CNRS, CHU Lille, Laboratoire Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives - UMR 9193 [SCALab], Swiss Center for Affective Sciences [CISA], Université de Genève = University of Geneva [UNIGE], Laboratoire Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives - UMR 9193 (SCALab), Université de Lille-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Swiss Center for Affective Sciences (CISA), and Université de Genève = University of Geneva (UNIGE)
- Subjects
[SCCO]Cognitive science ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,Clinical Psychology ,productivity ,health problems ,standing position ,Excessive sitting ,performance - Abstract
International audience; During their activities of daily living, humans run, walk, stand, sit, and lie down. Recent changes in our environment have favored sedentary behavior over more physically active behavior to such a degree that our health is in danger. Here, we sought to address the problem of excessive time spent seated from various theoretical viewpoints, including postural control, human factors engineering, human history and health psychology. If nothing is done now, the high prevalence of sitting will continue to increase. We make a case for the standing position by demonstrating that spending more time upright can mitigate the physiological and psychological problems associated with excessive sitting without lowering task performance and productivity. The psychological literature even highlights potential benefits of performing certain tasks in the standing position. We propose a number of recommendations on spending more time (but not too much) in the standing position and on more active, nonambulatory behaviors. There is a need to inform people about (i) harmful consequences of excessive sitting and (ii) benefits of spending more time performing active, nonambulatory behaviors. One clear benefit is to reduce detrimental health consequences of excessive sitting and to provide potential additional benefits in terms of productivity and performance.
- Published
- 2022