Sedentary jobs are on the rise. Is it possible to lead healthy lives while sitting so often at work?
By Paul Bolger. Chartered Physiotherapist at Nano Physiotherapy, Kilkenny (www.nanophysio.ie).
More and more of us spend our working days latched to a desk. Whether in the office or working from home, continuous sitting and working at a computer has become the norm in Ireland, and across much of the world.
The Figures Tell a Tale
Looking at figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), industries of desk-based work have been on the rise here – IT (up 31,000) and administrative roles (up 23,000) have seen big rises in just 6 years from 2016-2022.
At the same time, more physical work like agricultural and manufacturing roles have been steadily declining for decades. In 1973, 24% of the Irish workforce worked in the agricultural sector. Over the decades leading up to 2022 that number has gradually declined to just 4%. Jobs in the industrial sector accounted for 31% in 1973, but they made up 19% in 2022.
According to the CSO, of the 2.3 million employed people in Ireland in 2022, almost 1-in-3 (or 750,000 people) work from home at least one day each week.
Burning Fewer Calories
Research from the US found that in 2008 people burned an average of 124-140 calories less each day at work than they did in 1960 (the same calories as there are in a can of regular Coke). No doubt we are seeing similar changes here in Ireland – with things likely continuing in the same direction.
Inactivity
As a whole, we aren’t doing much better outside of the office. Only 46% of Irish adults meet their weekly exercise recommendation of at least 150mins, or 2.5hrs, of moderate intensity activity per week. This figure drops to a meagre 18% for those aged 75 and older.
Only 12% of our teenagers met the recommended 60mins of physical activity per day in 2022. This number, thankfully, is on the rise.
None of this is terribly surprising when you consider that many modern technological advances have made life less physically demanding and allowed us to keep ourselves fed, employed and entertained with little more than a click and swipe.
There is hope (plenty of it)
So more of us sit at desks for many hours every day. What can we do to mitigate the impact that sedentary jobs have on our health?
Here is the good news – having a desk job DOES NOT mean that you are destined for ill-health, aches and pains. Far from it. There is so much that you can do to pretty much negate the impact that desk-based work might have on your body. We will explore this over the coming weeks. If you stick with this series, you should be more equipped to lead a healthy, happy life – even if you spend a large portion of it at a desk!
