National campaign to reduce the time people spend sitting down

Hounslow Council is urging residents to get on their feet on Friday 24 April as part of a national campaign to reduce the time people spend sitting down.

It’s estimated that the average person spends about 9 hours a day sitting down. Evidence shows that sitting for more than four hours a day can reduce your metabolic rate, disrupt your blood sugar levels and increase insulin and blood pressure levels leading to increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, back ache and cancer. The risks of prolonged sitting persist even for people who are very active otherwise.

With over 70 per cent of our daily sitting time happening at work, Hounslow Council is supporting the Get Britain Standing and the British Heart Foundation campaign by asking staff to use a ‘sitting calculator’ to assess their sitting time. And, on 24 April, staff are being asked to consider seven simple ideas to reduce their sitting time, including:

• Stand during phone calls
• Stand and take a break from your computer every 30 minutes
• Use the stairs
• Have standing or walking meetings
• Eat your lunch away from your desk
• Walk to your colleague's desk instead of phoning or emailing them
• Stand at the back of the room during presentations

The council has also been progressively introducing ‘high bench’ tables into its offices to encourage standing working and standing meetings, as part of its move towards more modern ways of working.

April 23, 2015