Sedentary behaviour in the workplace: prevalence, health implications and interventions.

Introduction: This paper reviews the prevalence and health risks of excess sedentary behaviour in office workers, and the effectiveness of sedentary workplace interventions in a manner accessible to practitioners.

Sources Of Data: A narrative review of empirical studies obtained from PubMed and Web of Science.

Areas Of Agreement: Office workers are highly sedentary, increasing their risk of health problems. Interventions using individual, organisational and environmental level strategies can be effective for reducing workplace sitting.

Areas Of Controversy: The effects of sedentary workplace interventions on health are inconsistent. This may be due to a lack of randomized controlled trials powered to detect changes in health outcomes.

Growing Points: Multicomponent interventions that use a combination of the strategies above may be the most effective for reducing sitting.

Areas Timely For Developing Research: Determining the long-term health and cost-effectiveness of sedentary workplace interventions is a priority to encourage employer buy-in for their implementation.