Study: Desk jobs linked to early death

By nature, Finance staffers spend a significant amount of their day parked at their desks. New research suggests that it’s in their best interests to make some changes to their workday routines.

That’s because spending an average of 9 hours or more per day at a desk increases the likelihood of cardiac and metabolic afflictions and, most importantly death from “all causes” — i.e., a premature death.

Those are some of the most significant findings in a report by the New South Wales Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

The comprehensive research collected data from close to 225,000 Australians ages 45 and older and ran from 2006 to 2010.

The report looked at the amount of time participants spent sitting at work along with gender, age, education, urban/rural residency, body mass index, smoking status, physical activity, disability and self-rated health.

While employers can’t change the very nature of the job, they can encourage workers to do things that would minimize the negative affects of such sedentary work.

One example: Urging employees to bring smaller water bottles to work. With smaller water cups, employees will have to get up more often for refills.

In addition, tools like this help remind employees to take short fitness breaks every 30 minutes or so — and offer an array of simple exercises to do right at work.