The average Canadian spends a significant portion of their day sitting through a haze of work. Beyond this, the time spent commuting involves sitting. And, when you come home after work, you probably like to sit down to eat at the kitchen table and then go sit down on the couch for some TV.

These things are all normal but the hard to admit truth of the matter is that there are some major health consequences that come with this extensive sitting. ‘Sitting disease’ as some researchers are calling it includes significant increases in risk of diabetes, heart disease, and/or early death. Even though the term ‘sitting disease’ admittedly is a little laugh-inducing, the consequences are very real. Because there is no immediate pain in that moment, it’s easy to ignore the fact that there are some huge health risks associated with spending 75 percent of our days in a sitting or reclined position.

We are trained from a young age to believe that sitting is just a part of our day. Students spend several hours sitting in school. Today, they play video games, watch TV, and go places and sit, and it’s perfectly normal. When we grow up though, the consequences of this constant sitting start to show in ‘sitting disease’. The results of ‘sitting disease’, or prolonged sitting, is a 112 percent increase in risk of developing diabetes, a 147 percent increase in risk of having a heart attack or stroke, a 49 percent increase in risk of premature death, and a 90 percent increase in likelihood that should a heart attack or stroke occur, it would be fatal. It doesn’t matter what age, sex, culture, or income bracket you hang out. Sitting disease is real and it affects Canadians everywhere.

There is a solution though. No one is going to up and quit their sitting activities. We get that. We all work. We commute. We sit when we are relaxing. That’s ok. The solution though involves work. When you are working sitting at your desk, your mind is activated but your body is not. So the solution is easy – to active the body. How we do that is through a sit stand desk, which is an adjustable desk that allows you to sit when you want to stand and stand when you want to stand, all the while getting work done. A standing desk such as these can help in engaging Canadians’ bodies, reducing the health risks involved in sitting disease, and even put an end to that cringe-inducing term.

Don’t subject your body to prolonged sitting. Do something about it. ‘Sitting disease’ doesn’t sound like something that should be associated with Canadian desk workers. As science continues to uncover the negative effects of sitting, don’t wait. Buy a sit-stand desk to get active again!