Standing Desks in Schools May Cut Obesity Risk in Kids

                Desks that encourage children to stand in the classroom may reduce risk of obesity by lowering body mass index (BMI). Researchers have shown for the first time evidence that standing desks can slow down increase in elementary school children’s BMI – a key indicator of obesity – by an average of 5.24 percentile points. Standing desks are a positive for teachers in terms of classroom management and student engagement also. These desks are called stand-biased, not “standing” because they do include a tall stool the student can perch on if they so choose. They also include a footrest, a vital feature because it allows children to get their lower backs out of tension and reduce leg fatigue to stand more comfortably over time. These types of desks encourage the students to move instead of being forced to sit in poorly fitting, hard plastic chairs for six or seven hours of their day.