Read: 5 ways to encourage healthy workplace living

"Our findings are important because they support redesigning the traditionally sedentary office environment as a potentially cost-effective approach for fighting the obesity epidemic," Lucas Carr, an assistant professor at University of Iowa and co-author of the report, told NewKelara.com, an Indian news site. 

The study focused on 69 middle-aged office workers in different industries, examining 31 employees with sit-stand desks and 38 with plain, old sitting desks.

Carr noted that, in contrast to other studies of standing desks, his research focused on seasoned users of sit-stand desks. The average study participant had been using the desk for 1.8 years prior to the study.

"(P)revious studies have examined employee's sitting/standing habits immediately after being provided a new sit-stand desk, which is not a true test of whether someone will use the desk over the course of their 20- to 30-year career," Carr said.

The typical office worker spends more than 80 percent of the workday sitting, the study found. 

Other recent studies have linked sitting for extended periods of time with negative health outcomes. In fact, Tom Rath, a bestselling business author who has recently shifted his attention to wellness and health, has called sitting the "most underrated health threat of modern time." 

"Inactivity is dangerous," Rath told Forbes in January. "In fact, someresearch shows inactivity now kills more people than smoking."