Pulsford and his team have evaluated the hazards of sitting, using data collected over 16 years from thousands of men and women. Their findings should inform the selection of furniture for offices and other spaces. They report that “Sitting behaviours have been linked with increased risk of all-cause mortality…Participants…provided information on weekly sitting time (at work, during leisure time, while watching TV, during leisure time excluding TV, and at work and during leisure time combined)…No associations were observed between any of the five sitting indicators and mortality risk…policy makers and clinicians should be cautious about placing emphasis on sitting behaviour as a risk factor for mortality that is distinct from the effect of physical activity.”
Richard Pulsford, Emmanuel Stamatakis, Annie Britton, Eric Brunner, and Melvyn Hillsdon. “Associations of Sitting Behaviours With All-Cause Mortality Over a 16-Year Follow-Up: The Whitehall II Study.” International Journal of Epidemiology, in press.
Sally Augustin, PhD, a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.