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We think better on our feet. New research suggests that standing is better than sitting when it comes to learning and concentration.

After studying a diverse group of almost 300 children in second through fourth grade, researchers found that students assigned to standing desks were attentive and engaged than their seated peers.

Further analysis revealed that standing desks resulted in 12 percent greater, or seven minutes more per hour of learning time, engagement in classrooms.

Engagement was measured by monitoring and recording on-task behaviors such as answering questions, raising hands or participating in active discussion and off-task behaviors like talking out of turn, according to researchers.

"Standing workstations reduce disruptive behavior problems and increase students' attention or academic behavioral engagement by providing students with a different method for completing academic tasks (like standing) that breaks up the monotony of seated work," researcher Mark Benden, Ph.D., CPE, associate professor at the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Public Health, said in a news release.

"Considerable research indicates that academic behavioral engagement is the most important contributor to student achievement. Simply put, we think better on our feet than in our seat," he added.

The findings are published in the International Journal of Health Promotion and Education.