MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Nipun Shrestha MBBS, MPH Health Research and Social Development Forum Thapathali, Kathmandu, Nepal MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: These days our work in the offices isn't the same as it used to be. Almost everybody is working with a computer nowadays and that makes you sit still all day. We do not need to move from our chair to do most of the things. This is not just the case in developed countries but for developing countries as well. One would argue though we are sitting in the office hours but we are regularly doing lots of exercises. However researchers have found that sedentary behavior is an independent risk factor for many chronic diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. So breaking up time that we spend sitting is important. There are many commercial innovations available in the market which are being advertised heavily by the manufacturers. The evidence on effectiveness of such innovation is however not available. We found that there is limited evidence on effectiveness of interventions that aim to reduce sitting at work. There is some evidence that sit-stand desk may reduce sitting at work between 30 minutes to 2 hours without any adverse effects. (more…)