What Office Work Does to Your Waistline – and Heart Health

We all know that too much sitting is harmful to health. But a new study quantifies the damage: and its findings are concerning.

Research led by Dr. William Tigbe from the Warwick Medical School in the UK found that workers in office jobs have a larger waist circumference and a higher risk of heart disease.

Dr. Tigbe equipped 111 healthy postal workers with devices to track their activity levels: 55 were office workers and 56 were mail carriers. The study found clear differences between the two groups. Those who sat at a desk all day had larger waistlines – 97 centimeters compared to 94 centimeters among mail carriers. Over a period of 10 years, the risk of developing heart disease was 2.2% for office workers compared to 1.6% for mail carriers. Tigbe and his colleagues calculated that for every extra hour of sitting beyond five hours per day, waist circumference increases by two centimeters – and the risk of heart disease increases by 0.2%. Sitting beyond five hours a day also raises bad cholesterol and lowers good cholesterol.

(Photo: shutterstock)

The researchers concede, however, that although people should be encouraged to move and stand as much as possible even if they have a desk job, it is hard to reach the level of activity required to make the risk of heart disease negligible. "From our study, to achieve a zero risk factor, one needs to walk more than 15,000 steps a day, which equates to about 12 kilometers, or work standing without sitting for seven hours a day. This is very challenging for those whose job requirements do not include such activities," says Dr. Tigbe.