Changing the culture of sitting in the workplace

This year’s Research Australia awards celebrate Australian health and medical research and advocacy, recognising achievements in the categories of discovery, advocacy, philanthropy and lifetime achievement, and health services research.

Dr Genevieve Healy, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Queensland, received the 2014 The Griffith University Discovery Award in recognition of her work into the importance of regularly interrupting sitting time.

Healy is the lead investigator for the Stand Up Australia Research Program, which has looked at the health hazards of too much sitting.

“It’s been very timely,” said Healy. “Job design has become very sedentary, which can lead to people gradually putting on weight, so the research resonates with people.”

The results show that sitting has a detrimental impact on health and waist lines.

“The most consistent change we have observed is an increase in waist circumference, which is a measure of central obesity,” said Healy.

The research has included eight intervention trials looking at changes that can be made to sedentary behaviour when people are given organisational (manager emails), individual (health coach), environmental (sit-stand workstations) and technological (wearable technologies) support.

These outcomes are also being correlated with blood biomarkers, such as glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol and inflammatory markers.

The results of Healy’s research have been included in the 2014 Australian Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines and are changing the culture of sitting in the workplace.

Other Research Australia Award recipients included:

• Laureate Professor Alan Lopez, Director of the Global Burden of Disease Group at the University of Melbourne, best known for his work with the World Health Organization received the The Peter Wills Medal.
• Mr Roy Langsford OAM and Mrs Carol Langsford OAM, Founders of the Trish Multiple Sclerosis Research Foundation, were awarded  The Kids’ Cancer Project Lifetime Achievement Award.
• Karen Livingstone, Co-Founder of Ovarian Cancer Australia, was given The Advocacy Award.
• Laureate Professor Robert Sanson-Fisher from the Health Behaviour Research Group at the University of Newcastle received The NSW Government Health Services Research Award.
• Alastair Lucas AM, Former Chairman of The Burnet Institute and the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs Australia, and former Research Australia Director, was given The Leadership & Innovation Award.
• The Macquarie Group Foundation Great Australian Philanthropy Award: Mr Len Ainsworth, Supporter, Sydney Children’s Hospital and Mrs Margarete Ainsworth, Supporter, NeuRa.
• The Macquarie Group Foundation Great Australian Philanthropy Award: Charles ‘Chuck’ Feeney, Founding Chairman, The Atlantic Philanthropies.
• Bupa Health Foundation received The Leadership in Corporate Giving Award.

The 34th GSK Award for Research Excellence, which includes a grant of $80,000, was also presented at the Research Australia award event and was given to Professor David Craik from the University of Queensland in recognition of his drug development work.