From the U.S., home of the super-size burger drive-through and the cup-holder designed to allow the consumption of gallons of coke in the car, comes an invention intended to undo all that damage: the walk and work desk.

James Levine and Jennifer Miller, at the Mayo clinic in Rochester, have designed what they call a vertical workstation. It is somewhat taller than the norm and comes not with an ordinary chair, but a treadmill.

The walk and work desk allows those who are overweight or obese to get on with their office jobs while getting some exercise. They can stand at the desk and work at the computer using the keyboard and mouse bolted into an adjustable arm and — when they feel inclined — can break into a slow stroll on the treadmill.

Every modern convenience is built in. "The steel frame incorporates a slat system for storing personal items such as a flower vase, cup holder, pen holder or paper tray," write the doctors in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. In their experiment the doctors found the 15 volunteers — all but one of whom were women — expended considerably more energy when they worked and walked at a speed equivalent to one mile an hour compared to when they sat and worked.

© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail