Slouching isn't as bad for the spine as suspected.
Standing desks are a waste of time, a spine specialist argues
It has long been thought that slumped posture is bad for your back but Dr. Chris McCarthy - one of Britain's leading spine specialists and a researcher at Manchester Metropolitan University - argues to the contrary.
Dr. McCarthy suggests that standing desks, which have been introduced at workplaces in attempts to help employees improve posture, do not offer any advantages to the body.
He said: "Our spines aren't going to be damaged by a bit of sitting down, even if we happen to be wiggling our fingers on a keyboard at the same time.
"Prolonged standing is no more comfortable for the spine than prolonged sitting.
"There's a pretty good reason why slouching doesn't damage our spines, and that is because our spines are designed to allow movements as diverse as Olympic weightlifting to limbo dancing.
"If you experience back or neck pain, you can rest assured that the posture you adopt when walking or sitting probably isn't to blame as much as you might have been led to believe."