"Sitting culture" leads to premature death and costs €1.2 billion per year in healthcare

Diseases caused by sitting for too long result in high healthcare costs. According to the Organization for Applied Scientific Research TNO, prolonged sitting increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes in particular, as well as lung and bowel cancer. The research organization estimates the financial impact to be 1.2 billion euros annually.

The number of people who die from it is now estimated at 21,000 per year. TNO has calculated that employees in the Netherlands will sit for an average of 8.9 hours per working day in 2022, more than half of which will be during working hours (4.5 hours), 3.4 hours during leisure time, and 1 hour during commuting. Lawyers, economists, and ICT specialists, in particular, sit for very long periods, an average of 7.3 hours, just during work. At 7.2 hours, truck drivers also spend a very long time sitting at work.

Overall, the Netherlands is the “European sitting champion,” according to a study by TNO. A quarter of the Dutch population aged 15 years and older sit more than 8.5 hours per day on average, compared to 11 percent in the rest of the EU.

"There is a 'sitting culture' in the workplace, as the working environment is geared towards sitting and hardly encourages movement. Due to the significant proportion of work in the total sitting time of a day, one can speak of an occupational risk," warned TNO.

According to the research organization, the lack of movement in everyday life also leads to premature deaths. Up to 21,000 thousand people in the Netherlands die prematurely as a result of prolonged sitting. For the TNO, “this is reason enough to transform the culture of sitting in the Netherlands into a culture of movement. And the workplace offers a good opportunity to do this.”

"There are many ways to sit less and move more during work. For example, employers can purchase sit-stand desks so that employees can alternate between sitting and standing while working. Changing how work is organized and the work environment can facilitate and encourage consultations or phone calls while walking. Movement breaks during and between meetings can be planned as standard," TNO explained.