Standing Desk Intervention (Stand Out in Class)

Working with colleagues at Loughborough, Leicester, York and Deakin (Melbourne, Australia) Universities we conducted a cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT) of a sit-stand desk with eight primary school, year 5 classrooms in Bradford.  Six sit-stand desks replaced three standard desks (sitting 6 children) in the intervention classrooms for 4.5-months.  Teachers used a rotation system to ensure all pupils were exposed to the sit-stand desks for >1 hour/day on average.

A preliminary estimate of intervention effectiveness revealed significant reductions in daily sitting time.   Qualitative measures revealed the intervention and evaluation procedures were acceptable to teachers and children, except minor issues around activPAL attachment.  This study provides evidence of the acceptability and feasibility of a sit-stand desk intervention and evaluation methods.