I agree with you, Aytekin, that getting out of the chair is just one strategy among others for improving health. But I would caution against dismissing research showing potential health hazards in excessive sedentariness. The incontrovertible fact is that humans were never bioengineered to sit for long periods of time, as we do now. On the contrary — early homo sapiens were constantly on their feet, walking as many as 15 miles a day in their search for food and shelter (and avoiding becoming another creature’s meal). Time has not altered this compulsion, evolution moving too slowly to result in any palpable shift in our constitution in so short a period.

As for those who complain of physical pain and discomfort from standing desks, I’d suggest that the problem isn’t with the desk — it’s with the floor. Or more specifically, with the very hard floors that most workplaces are furnished with. Of course these are going to cause injury if people stand in place for hours. The remedy isn’t to sit back down, though; it’s to insert a soft cushion, air pad, or roller board underneath your feet. Not only will this relieve pressure on your spine, joints and muscles, it will also induce exactly the kind of slight physical movement throughout the body that Nature intended us to experience in order to survive and thrive.