Study: Standing Desks Reduce Obesity Risk in Kids

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For the first time, a new study shows that standing desks in classrooms can slow the increase of a key obesity indicator by an average of 5 percentage points.

The study, led by the Texas A&M School of Public Health, followed 193 third- and fourth graders in 24 elementary school classrooms, half with standing-oriented desks and half without, for two years in College Station, Texas, the Vital Record reports.

Students who had standing-oriented desks for both years averaged a 3% drop in body mass index (BMI)—a key indicator of obesity.

Those in traditional desks showed the 2% increase typically associated with getting older.

Even more impressive, students who spent only one of two years with standing-oriented desks also had lower mean BMIs than traditionally seated students.

Also, there were no gender or racial/ethnic differences, suggesting that this intervention works across demographic groups.

“These types of desks encourage the students to move instead of being forced to sit in poorly fitting, hard plastic chairs for six or seven hours of their day,” study author Dr. Mark Benden of Texas A&M School of Public Health told the Vital Record.

“Sit less, move more,” he said. “That’s our message.”