Earlier this year I wrote about the importance of movement and exercise when we work remotely.  The article was triggered by findings suggesting that we can move less when we work remotely than we might otherwise do, and the well-established problems caused by a lack of mobility warrant a deliberate response.

Research from the University of Derby suggests that so pronounced is this problem that it’s beholden on employers to take an active interest in the mobility of the workforce.  The findings emerged after the researchers assessed the habits of a few hundred workers who had been operating remotely during 2020.

Unhealthy habits

The researchers were especially keen to understand the impact of any changes on the physical and psychosocial wellbeing of the individuals during lockdown conditions.  The results reveal that around 70% of participants had reduced their physical activity compared to pre-pandemic levels, with a third also increasing their food and alcohol intake.  Taken together, this led to a deterioration in their physical and mental health.

“The restrictions brought in by government to control the spread of COVID-19 were necessary to save lives and protect the NHS from being overwhelmed,” the researchers say. “However, this profound change to their working lives has had a marked negative impact upon people’s mental health and their ability to do their job.”

“It is well known that a more sedentary lifestyle leads to a decline in mental health which, in turn, reduces productivity. As people started working from home, they ate more, drank more and spent more time sitting. Additionally, consumption of distressing COVID-19 news may have further affected both their physical and psychological wellbeing.”

Pros and cons

The findings remind us that while remote working can have benefits in terms of reduced commuting and even a greater sense of autonomy and agency, they can also have consequences in terms of physical activity.

“What our findings tell us is that an individual’s ability to maintain a healthy diet, physical activity and good mental health will very likely have been impacted by suddenly transitioning to remote working,” the researchers explain.

“If companies are likely to require a greater proportion of their workforce to work remotely in the future to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 or as a contingency for future pandemics, then strategies to promote a more sustainable way of working are required.”

The authors especially argue for employers to initiate policies to encourage and promote physical activity, while also doing more to monitor the wellbeing of employees while they work remotely.

“This could include encouraging physically active breaks at work while also promoting individual lifestyle changes outside of the workplace, such as meditation or healthy cooking,” the researchers conclude.  “Targeted strategies such as these to support people working remotely as a consequence of COVID-19, as well as access to wellbeing research, may help to thwart, or at least attenuate, an international public health crisis on top of the one the pandemic has created.”