GPs called to make workers stand up

Doctors should inform their patients' employer of their need to avoid sitting if the person has certain health problems, experts say.

Previous research has shown excessive sitting is associated with premature death, obesity, some cancers, Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

"Doctors should prescribe behavioural changes that combat sedentary working conditions," Professor Leon Straker, a professor of physiotherapy at Perth's Curtin University and co-authors wrote in their study published in the Medical Journal of Australia (MJA).

"On average, over 75 per cent of the office workday is spent sitting, with much of this accumulated in unbroken bouts of at least 30 minutes," he said.

In the same way a doctor would advise a patient to avoid heavy lifting if they have a prolapsed disc in the spine, a doctor who has a patient with a cardiovascular condition should prescribe regular movements and inform the employer of the patient's needs, the authors wrote.

Australia's work health and safety laws required employers to provide a safe system of work and contemporary offices might not be providing this, they wrote.

One of the solutions they suggest is introducing standing meetings.