BEIJING, May 15 (Xinhuanet) -- A specially vertical workstation enabling the overweight to walk at work has been designed in U.S., media reports said Tuesday.

    The workstation can be locked in place over a treadmill, allowing employees to work at a computer while simultaneously walking on the spot at a speed of their own choosing.

    Professor James Levine and Jennifer Miller of the Mayo Clinic, in Minnesota, who invented the device, said using it for a couple of hours a day could help obese staff shed up to 30kg a year.

    They measured how many calories their 15 volunteers burned using exhaled breath but did not determine if the volunteers lost weight.

    On average, their overweight volunteers burned 100 calories more every hour while walking slowly, 1.6 km per hour, than while sitting in a chair.

    "Along with obesity, the sedentary nature of work is increasing because of the common use of desktop computers," the authors wrote. "By 2010, it is estimated that more than half of the workforce from developed countries will be working at computers."

    "We are therefore interested in devising and validating approaches that promote physical activity in an obese person in the workplace, without sacrificing work time."

    The researchers said their desk costs approximately 1,600 dollars.

    (Agencies)