Research into Our Sitting Habits

Summary of research on the sitting habits of the Australian workforce

Key finding: Australian office workers are sitting wrong and for too long.

· Australians are spending more time than ever sitting – alarmingly, office workers have only 73 minutes left a day to stand or be active, after eliminating time spent sitting and sleeping.

· Women aged 18-34 years are most at risk of spinal damage – they have the worst posture & are most likely to sit in a slumped or collapsed position at work.

· Office workers spend longer in front of the computer (almost nine hours a day) than sleeping (approximately seven hours a day); sit for almost one & half hours while commuting to & from work; and watch TV for more than two hours.

· Office workers also spend long periods using a computer to work at home with men & over 55s spending the longest time (more than 83 minutes a day) doing this.

· Gen Y office workers (those aged under 31) are more likely to spend longer (more than 1.5 hours a day) sitting down commuting than over 47 years olds (77.23 minutes) & spend longer sitting down without getting up (3 hours and 27 minutes).

· Australians are spending almost 1.5 hours a day sitting while commuting to & from work with men spending longer sitting down commuting than women.

· Office workers are also sitting for up to 3 hours at a time without getting up.

· More than half of Australian office workers (56%) said they had no conscious breaks from their computers or desks.

· Men are more likely than women to sit down for longer without getting up (188.55 minutes compared with 157.81 minutes).

· 75 per cent of people say they either do not have recommendations in their workplace for taking breaks from their computers/desks or are not aware of any recommendations in their workplace for these types of breaks.

· Office workers are keen to improve their posture. More than a third of them (38%) have sought information to correct or improve their sitting posture.

The Chiropractic Association of Australia research found Australian office workers face a back pain epidemic and risk developing chronic diseases by sitting for almost 16 hours a day with more than half never taking conscious breaks to stand and move around. Nearly 70 per cent of office workers are sitting incorrectly in a slumped or collapsed position with 60 per cent saying they already experience regular or occasional lower back pain.