Professional Opinion: Is it OK to eat while standing?
This week, Debbie Petitpain, a registered dietitian with Sodexo working in the Medical University of South Carolina's Office of Health Promotion, discusses whether standing while eating is a good idea.
Question. I've heard you shouldn't eat standing up. And it certainly seems to run counter to advice that suggests we should slow down and eat mindfully in order to make sure we're not overeating. But, then again, there are also tons of studies that say sitting constantly is whittling years off our lives. Are there truly any dangers to eating while standing up? Or might that be a good way to cut just a bit of our sitting time each day?
Answer. If standing and eating is what works for you, meaning you can have an enjoyable meal without rushing or overeating, go for it.
However, if you are scarfing your lunch while you are literally on the run, give yourself a break to sit and enjoy your food. Many of us pride ourselves in "multitasking" and can eat while we watch TV, drive, answer emails, talk on the phone or do a variety of household chores. When we do this, we don't pay attention to how much we eat and -- research shows -- we consume more calories than we would if we gave our meal some undivided attention. Further, these "fast foods" (think foods that can be eaten with our hands while standing -- greasy sandwiches and stuff that comes out of a bag like chips and cookies) are generally more processed and higher in fat and sodium. By sitting, we can incorporate more fruits, vegetables, unsweetened yogurt and foods that generally require a fork to eat.
It is true that all the sitting we do -- in front of the TV, in the car, at work -- is taking its toll on our health. Research shows that even when we meet physical activity guidelines, sitting for long periods of time can negatively impact markers of health, including our waist circumference, blood pressure and blood sugar levels.
To be clear, too much sitting is distinct from too little exercise and public health messages are encouraging us to sit less or at least break up our sedentary time. This can be done with little effort by taking stretch breaks during long meetings, moving around the house during commercial breaks or altering your desk so you can stand to do computer work. Theoretically, standing while eating is another way to reduce sitting time, but how many minutes does it really take to eat? And how many times per day would you do this? For most of us, that would equate to one to two breaks of 30 minutes or less, which is not significant when global studies show most of us sit for almost eight hours per day.
Try, instead, to stand while you are preparing your food then sit and relax during meal time, savor the flavors and enjoy the company of others (which has been shown to positively affect health). Perhaps your dinner conversation could explore ways to sit less for the rest of the day. For ideas to discuss, visit: http://bit.ly/sittingless
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This story was originally published March 2, 2015 at 5:41 PM with the headline "Professional Opinion: Is it OK to eat while standing? ."