This study by Loughborough University aimed to explore the impact of allocating standing desks to every child within a Year 5 primary school classroom over an 8-month period on classroom sitting, physical activity, behaviour-related mental health, musculoskeletal comfort, and markers of cognitive function.
Providing a standing desk to every primary school child in a UK classroom can reduce sitting time throughout most of the academic year, according to a new study.
Researchers at Loughborough University installed standing desks at a school in Bradford for eight-months to measure the impact they had on children’s sitting habits and classroom behaviour.
The children, aged nine-to-10, were in control of whether they sat or stood, and were asked to wear monitors for two weeks before the new desks were in place, and again at four months and eight months after the desks had been installed.
The monitors measured sitting time as well as moving from sitting to standing.