THURSDAY, June 13, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Energy expenditure (EE) is higher for standing positions versus sitting or lying positions in young, healthy adults, according to a study published online June 12 in PLOS ONE.
Francisco J. Amaro-Gahete, from the University of Granada in Spain, and colleagues compared differences in EE across lying, sitting, and standing positions and examined the correlations between the change in EE and changing from one position to another in young, healthy adults. Fifty-five young, healthy adults participated in the study. EE was measured by indirect calorimetry across lying, sitting, and standing positions.
The researchers found that compared with both lying and sitting, EE was significantly higher in standing positions (mean difference, 0.121 ± 0.292 and 0.125 ± 0.241 kcal/min, respectively; P < 0.001); no difference was seen between the lying and sitting positions (P = 1.00). A negative association was observed between EE differences in sitting versus standing and lean body mass (P = 0.048); no correlations were seen between EE differences and other anthropometric and body composition parameters in each position pair studied (P > 0.321).
“Our findings support that increasing the time spent standing could be a simple strategy to increase the EE,” the authors write. “In fact, it is clear that reducing sitting time should be encouraged according to estimations indicating that substituting six hours of sitting per day with standing results in 45 additional kcal in daily energy expenditure.”
The study was partially funded by AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation.
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