Transparency is extremely important to us, so we are letting you know that we may receive a commission on some of links you click on from this page. See our disclaimer.

Improving workplace wellness plan design requires a focus on multiple areas: Participation, Engagement, Plan Offerings, and more. One activity that can address many of these areas: Getting employees to be active.

We, like others, have reported extensively on the benefits of standing and the ills of sitting, including:

• We've brought videos.
• We outlined 38 ways to stop sitting and start standing.
• We offered more ideas on integrating standing into your workday.

As the New York Times states about sitting: “These long, uninterrupted periods of physical lethargy have been linked with increased risks for diabetes, heart disease, premature mortality and, not least, weight gain.”

However, when considering what to emphasize in a wellness program, simply encouraging employees to stand more likely won't cut it. As the NYT piece indicates that, if your goal is weight management, standing alone may not be enough.

The basis of the piece is a new study titled “Energy Expenditure During Acute Periods of Sitting, Standing, and Walking” and published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health. It concludes: “Substituting periods of sitting or standing with walking significantly increases EE [energy expenditure], but substituting periods of sitting with standing may not affect EE. Thus, the potential benefits of standing as opposed to sitting need further investigation beyond the role of EE.”

As the NYT reports about the study: “When the volunteers walked for 15 minutes, even at a fairly easy pace, they burned about three times as many calories as when they sat or stood. If they walked for an hour, the researchers calculated, they would incinerate about 130 more calories than if they stayed in their chairs or stood up at their desks, an added energy expenditure that might be sufficient, they write, to help people avoid creeping, yearly weight gain.”

In other words: “The upshot of this experiment is that if your goal is to control your weight at work, then ‘standing up may not be enough,' said Seth Creasy, a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh and the lead author of the new study. (Note: For more on Creasy and his approach to “combating chronic diseases with physical activity,” see this post.)

To be sure, standing has great benefits; don't stop inserting standing breaks into your day. However, considering an overall workplace wellness approach should include more than standing — find ways to encourage employees to take a walk as well.