A study conducted by the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health and NUS Business School has found that office workers spend an average of seven hours every day sitting at their work stations, which may increase the risk of developing diabetes. The study, led by Assistant Professor Falk Mueller-Riemenschneider and researchers Dr Clarice Waters and Er Pei Ling from the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health is the first in Asia to research healthcare risks associated with sitting for extended periods. The study on assessing and understanding sedentary behaviour in office-based working adults was published in Europe’s BMC Public Health in April 2016.
The study of 40 office workers, aged 21 years and above, required participants to wear an accelerometer which tracked daily activity and duration of time spent sitting over a 7-day period.
With the shift towards a knowledge-based economy, work habits have become increasingly sedentary, says Associate Professor Lim Yee Wei, one of the study’s authors. The findings, generated from a 3-month long data analysis, was released for the time in conjunction with World Health Day (07 April 2016), with the World Health Organisation (WHO) issuing a call for action on diabetes.
The study has found that office workers spent almost 75% of their working hours deskbound, for an average of 7 hours every day. Studies in other countries have discovered the link between extended periods of sitting and an increased rate of diabetes, Assoc Prof Lim explains. A common misconception is that short spurts of vigorous exercise during one’s free time could make up for the lack of physical activity due to the long hours spent deskbound during office hours. Instead, increasing daily amounts of physical activity, even simply by standing up and walking around more often, would better increase the body’s metabolic rate and lower the risks of many health problems in the long run.
Media Coverage:
- Lianhe Zaobao, 7 April 2016
- LianHe WanBao, 7 April 2016