There is some evidence[0], but people expect magic bullets, when the reality is that small gains here and there are useful. The only magic bullets I've found are cutting out refined sugar and heart pumping exercise at least 15 minutes a day, and ideally an hour.
If it matters, my back pain largely went away when I switched to working while standing for three or four hours a day.
The linked article makes no claims about health outcomes - instead, the participants in that study reported feeling better, which contributes to the reported improvement in health-adjusted life years.
In fact, there was no difference in BMI reported between the standard condition and the intervention designed to decrease sitting time.
I don't know this literature much, but a separate analysis of the same study may show improved cardiometabolic risk profiles in workers who are encouraged to stand more often[1].
Sorry? I didn't mention BMI. I was referring to life year gains.
> Life years (LY) gained is a measure in health economics. It expresses the additional number of years of life that a person lives as a result of receiving a treatment.
And a 1% increase in LY after a 12 month intervention isn't a silver bullet, but it's nothing to sneeze at.
If it matters, my back pain largely went away when I switched to working while standing for three or four hours a day.
[0] E.g., http://www.sjweh.fi/show_abstract.php?abstract_id=3740