Why sitting for too long makes you less productive

Sitting down for long-hours causes back aches, which may hamper workplace productivity, researchers say.

Occupational health physician Dr Abed Onn has listed low back pain as one of the three most common work-related ailments, alongside noise-induced loss of hearing and upper limb muscular disorder, Star Online reported.

Due to lack of reliable statistics, he based his evaluation on cases he has handled in the course of his work.

"Low back pain is not an old man’s ailment. I am seeing more cases of low back pain in fairly young individuals, even people in their early 30s," Dr Onn said.

Orthopaedic and spine surgeon Dr Siow Yew Siong asserted that office workers suffer from mostly sprained and strained low backs as well as early degeneration of the spine because of the sedentary nature of office work.

“Sprains and strains are much more common than actual spinal diseases,” said Dr Siong.

“Poor sitting posture, poor office ergonomics (designing of equipment to fit the human body), wrong lifting techniques and prolonged sitting can cause sprains and undue strain to your back,” Dr Siong added.

First Published: Jan 23, 2012 15:20 IST