As Standing Desks become a part of offices and home offices for promoting wellness, their application for classrooms to benefit the health of students has also become a growing trend. Combined with a push to offer healthier school lunches and increase the opportunity for fitness at school, sit-stand desks have been viewed as an additional benefit for classrooms. Here are just a few of the advantages.
Boosting Focus
Standing increases blood flow to the brain without the intense rigor of physical exercise, which means enhanced focus in the classroom. By simply Standing while learning, this moderate fitness for a one week period is equal to a child walking five miles. The use of stand up desks was also associated with significant improvements (7-14%) in executive function and working memory capabilities.
Improving Classroom Behavior
In a recent study by Texas A&N University, standing while learning increased classroom attention and engagement by 12%. That translates into seven more minutes per hour of engaged learning, which is otherwise lost in disruptive behavior by students and teachers managing that behavior.
Improving Overall Health and Fitness
The percentage of children with obesity in the United States has more than tripled since the 1970s. Today, about one in five school-aged children (ages 6–19) has obesity.* Research shows that standing helps burn 17-35% more calories than sitting. Standing also helps prevent Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and improve BMI—all critical factors in combating an epidemic of childhood obesity.
Advocating for Standing Desks at Your School
Speak to your child’s teacher about supporting a sit-stand initiative. Approach parent/teacher organizations and any administrators or committees involved in supporting health at school.
Do Your Homework
Be prepared to present all the health benefits of standing desks in the classroom. Learn more here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4929187/
Get Students Involved
Engaging student councils at school gets kids actively involved in the health of their fellow students and helps support your arguments for standing desks in school.
Launch a Fund-Raising Initiative
Schools will always be supportive when it comes to improving student health, but budgets will inevitably be a roadblock. If your plan is approved by administrative committees, creative fund-raising efforts can help generate the money necessary to bring sit-stands into the classroom without impacting school budget constraints.
Learn more about flexible and easy to use standing desk technology: Standing Desks Options
* https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/obesity/facts.htm
