Time to get ready Britain. Take part in the national On Your Feet Day when workers across UK will unite together and participate in a variety of fun and simple activities to #SitLess and #MoveMore at work on Friday 26th April 2019.
The idea behind the initiative is to get more people in the UK to be active while at work and to spend less time sitting down. The event is run in association with Active working and more than 2,000 companies and two million workers are expected to take part.
The Challenge dares you to take James Brown at his word and convert ‘sitting time’ to ‘standing time’. Some of the ways you can do this are as follows:
- 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
Find out more about how you can team up with colleagues on the day and reduce your “sitting time” by visiting www.onyourfeetday.com
It’s free to sign up, simply register to receive the passcode to download all the posters and guidelines.
UPSTANDING
This is not just something that’s happening to other people, it’s happening within our healthcare sector.
Karen Maxwell, the Safety, Health and Environment Officer for Roche Diabetes Care UK & Ireland Ltd has been in charge of overseeing the adoption of some sit-stand desks in the firm’s offices. She says, “We know that it’s good for people to move around and there’s lots of evidence against sedentary lifestyles. Sit/Stand desks, and breakout spaces around our site allow for this without losing productivity. Roche Diabetes Care understands the role that lifestyle plays in health and wellbeing and so it is important to us to provide a comfortable workplace for our team.’
Globally, Roche has many initiatives under its ‘LiveWell’ banner, which has been set up to provide information and healthy choices for colleagues. Says Maxwell, “At our UK site, everyone has access to a Sit/Stand desk, with regular guest speaker events on topics such as mindfulness, and healthy options in our canteen.”
Roche Diabetes Care’s staff had been asking for this approach and the evidence is starting to stack up as to the benefits after the whole site was upgraded within a short time frame. Maxwell says, “The response from the staff has been very positive, everyone is pleased to have the option, even if they don’t exercise it.”
Meanwhile, over at Dexcom UK, sit-stand desks have also been adopted. Speaking for Dexcom, Karen Baxter Country Director, UK, Ireland & Belgium, says “I felt the sit-stand desks were a vital part of how we make our working environment better for our office team. Most of the team now use this facility every day and change-up their position depending on the type of work they are doing, or depending on their mood. I also knew from a study of participants that use Dexcom CGM that had shown standing-based office work reduced glucose excursions after meals. As far as we are concerned, the sit-stand desks have been a great success.”
EDITOR’S COMMENT
As I am not getting any younger, and like many am ‘fighting the battle of the bulge’, I realised that with a very desk-bound job, a sit-stand desk could benefit my own health. I have recently become a user of a sit-stand desk and am pleased to report that I use it in the standing position for at least half of every day. On researching this, I found that the more affordable options are simply hand-cranked, the more expensive are motorized. Some can be programmed to store a few preferred heights, so your sit and your stand heights can be remembered by the desk, meaning you can adjust from one to the other with a press of a button. Plus, it’s best to do both – sit a bit and stand a bit – as standing for too long can have its downsides too. Choice is a wonderful thing though! – Sue Marshall
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