Office Furniture Helps Fight Fat

In 2006, 66% of Americans were overweight or obese. Did the obesity rate in America come from working in seated sedentary jobs? Or do we prefer seated sedentary jobs because 66% of us are overweight or obese? No one knows for sure, but Texas based Neutral Posture is planning to do what it can to reverse this trend. Recently, Neutral Posture introduced the N tune Seating System, a realistic office solution to help America's ever-widening waistline lose 20 pounds in one year.

Research conducted by Jerome Congleton, PhD, PE, CPE, professor at Texas A&M University, showed that the ideal seated position for surgeons was the neutral body posture since it so clearly emulated the positive aspects of standing. "The problem is that most companies have chased the chair question for so long that they forgot to ask -- what is the ideal posture for a person performing work and should this work be done entirely seated?" asks Dr. Congleton. The answer is no, office work does not and should not be done entirely seated.

Research has proven the best solution to the static seating we are all so familiar with is to provide seating breaks to improve circulation, muscle tone, and vitality. Unfortunately, computer advancements have left us so tied to our desks that we must work at finding ways to provide our bodies the movement that it desires to keep us healthy and vibrant. By incorporating breaks we also unknowingly expend more energy ( i.e. burn calories).

Mark E. Benden, PhD, CPE, leading ergonomic researcher and author of "Could You Stand To Lose? Weight Loss Secrets for Office Workers" developed the N tune Seating System with a team of engineers, ergonomists, and designers to integrate the chair/stool design with the storage and layout potential of systems furniture for the home or office. The N tune concept is all about raising desk heights from 30" up to 40" and then raising the chair, to stool height, allowing users to easily and freely stand up to work when needed. The key to making this system work is the platform on the chair that allows for easy transition from sitting to standing and vice versa.

"Just by standing for 2 hours throughout an average workday, you can burn 280 extra calories," says Dr. Benden. "In one year, that can amount to roughly 20 pounds." Results vary depending on body shape and metabolism, but even in the simplest case, assures Benden, "everyone could stand to lose with this technique."