Standing desk helps you lose weight

Office workers could lose almost 3.1kg a year by standing at their desks. Photo / 123RF

Office workers could lose almost 3.1kg a year simply by standing up at their desks, research suggests.

The international study of more than 1,000 men and women found that standing instead of sitting for six hours a day burned an extra 54 calories daily - resulting in significant weight loss.

The research, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, found that standing burned almost twice as many calories in men compared with women, reflecting the fact that those with greater muscle mass burn calories more quickly.

The study, which examined data from 1,184 people taking part in 46 previous studies, found the average difference in energy expenditure between sitting and standing was 0.15 calories a minute.

It means those who spent six hours of the day standing rather than sitting could expect to lose almost 2.7kg in a year - amounting to more than 6.3kg in four years - if they did not change their diet.

Dr Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, the senior author and chairman of preventive cardiology at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, said: "Standing for long periods of time for many adults may seem unmanageable, especially those who have desk jobs, but, for the person who sits for 12 hours a day, cutting sitting time to half would give great benefits.

"Standing not only burns more calories, the additional muscle activity is linked to lower rates of heart attacks, strokes and diabetes," he added.

This article was originally published in the Daily Telegraph.